Snow Days Part Two

One of the reasons  I like living on the "wet coast" is that the incidence of a 'snow event' is fairly low and when it arrives, it is usually short-lived. [And by short-lived, I mean it falls one day and is gone the next because the temperature rises, or the rain returns] I would be just as happy never to have another snow day in the rest of my life.  I don't like being cold.  I don't like the idea that the power might go out at any moment.  I don't like the looming possibility of running out of supplies.  I don't like the unpredictability of snow days.  I get anticipatory cabin fever when snow is predicted.  Will it last one day?  Two?  A week?  Will I have to resign myself to being like Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on The Prairie ?  For most of my life out here, the meterologists bat fairly low.  Their dire predictions of 'snow events' are not that accurate.  Fearmongering is still rampant, but when they say 'snow is coming' we take it with a grain of salt.  Living close to the ocean, and around the mountains, means that anything can happen.  Tradewinds don't always blow the way Environment Canada says they will.

This week has been an exception to the rule.  The snow that was threatened by the meteorologist for several days running,  actually turned up.  And it stayed.  We are on day three.  The snow came on Monday,  piled up on Tuesday and blew through the prairie all day today.   Monday, I came home early to avoid a mid-afternoon ride through a treacherous stretch of road.  Tuesday, we all had a snow day.  Today, we sent the boy to school on the bus, and my husband got into his truck, only to return a half hour later.  He said that some of the drifts were as high as the truck, that visibility was extremely limited and he didn't relish becoming part of a drift himself if he got stuck.  I was relieved to have him at home.  Snow days are more manageable when he is around.  I called the school to see if the bus arrived safely, and it had.  So I settled into another round of snow day survival.  I made banana bread to have an excuse to use the oven and try and heat up the house.  I made tea.  I made hot chocolate.  I made a hot water bottle.  I took my book and read. I napped. And then I got up to see what the rest of the day entailed.

The wind continued to blow all afternoon.  At times we couldn't see the nearby hills where our city-mouse neighbours live.  By early afternoon, we received  word  from the school, thatthe police had closed one of the main roads to our street,  and the bus could only bring the kids partways home.  We had to make other arrangements

We briefly considered sending out the dog sled.  

But in the end, our neighbours came to the rescue and brought him home along with their kids. As an added bonus, another neighbour lent us a heavy-duty heater, so that our frozen pipes (and chilly house) might warm up to manageable temperatures (and hopefully thawed out pipes so I can do laundry and wash dishes again).  [That is one advantage of the snow, I suppose is that it brings out the community in us all.]

 Once all the excitement of figuring out safe arrivals died down, I took a little walk down the street to clear some of the cobwebs. And I happened on this little scene with the horse drawn toboggan.  I think I might have been transported to the times of "Little House on the Prairie" after all.

Even though the snow is pretty, I will be very glad to return to 'normal' weather.  Bring back the 'wet coast' I say!