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| Willow and Birch |
This past weekend we've had our first major blast of snow here. Although we do get a lot of snow over the winter months, it usually doesn't start quite this early. October and November tend to be months where we get a "sprinkling" of snow; the kind of stuff that usually melts away pretty quickly, but the snow we just got was the kind you had to shovel, more than once, and then spread ice-melter (we don't use salt, cause it's bad for the environment and our city water systems) so you can walk without pulling a Three-Stooges move.
Shrugging myself in a winter coat that feels as though it weighs ten pounds, pulling on boots to my knees, grabbing a heavy knit cap, scarf and gloves or mitts ... is so not the highlight of my day.
I'd really prefer if the snow and sub-zero temperatures would hold off until sometime in January, when we are comfortably sitting in the warm sun and blue skies of our home in Florida.
I'm not a happy camper right now. I can handle a certain amount of cold weather (provided I'm bundled up like a polar bear), but I'd rather be warm year round. And I've come to hate the snow. Seriously hate it.
Oh sure, there is no denying that on a sunny day (even when bitterly cold) when the sun sparkles off fresh-fallen snow like a myriad of tiny diamonds, it's beautiful. Very pretty indeed, as long as it's viewed through a window with a fireplace blazing away filling the room with enough heat to make you sweat.
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| Ice Covered Trees |
Pretty views aren't enough to make me like the snow. Not anymore. My old bones start rattling in their skin when the snow comes down, but besides the snow, the last 2 months have been incredibly dreary, with very few days where the sun has peeked above the cloud cover at all. Rather than pretty views lit by sunshine, we've been treated to Mother Nature's version of the weather dungeon. I hate it.
When I was a child (oh, so very long ago now) I used to love the snow. But I was raised in Toronto, where snowfall is usually nothing like it is here in the north. There was seldom enough snow accumulation to last more than a few days at a time and if you were "lucky" enough to have a blizzard every 5 years (and you were a kid), you exalted in that one snow day where the schools were all closed. We lived in an apartment building, but one building over from us there was a little church, and that church had what seemed like a pretty big hill. At least, it did to a kid.
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| Rural Farm Scene in Winter |
We'd get ourselves all bundled up in thick snowsuits and winter gear and take our toboggans and flying saucers over to "The Hill" and spend an hour or two just being kids. I remember how excited we were then. It's a good memory, but even back then, the snow didn't last that long. Toronto is a city with a subway system (underground trains). Anywhere the subway tunnels traveled, the snow melted away very quickly.
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| Snowmobile on Trail |
Those days (childhood) were filled with a wonder of winter, and of course the knowledge that Christmas (and Santa) were on the horizon. I'm eternally thankful that I remember those days, but I would not enjoy living them again in my retirement years.
Living where I live now, we aren't so lucky. I guess "lucky" depends on whether you're a winter person or not. I am not. Not anymore.
This town didn't take long to make me dislike the snow. And the older I get, the more dislike it. The winter sports fanatics (and there are many) flock "up" to our area all winter long. Winter ski resorts and snowmobile lodges do a good business north of Toronto, and the winter months can be a boon to our economy here. It really depends on the winter itself ... lots of snow at night, sunny days with temps just above zero tend to mean a fully booked hotel, lodge, or bed and breakfast for the coming week.
Pretty or not, I'd rather have palm trees, sunshine, and hot days!
More free photos below:
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| Ice Fishing in Orillia |
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| Bass Lake, Ontario |
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| Lake Couchiching in Winter (Ontario) |
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| Farm in Winter, Ramara, Ontario |
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| Tea Lake Cottages in Winter, Georgian Bay |
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| Tudhope Park, Orillia |
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| Winter Bench, Tudhope Park, Orillia |
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| Winter Cornfield, Oro-Medonte, Ontario |
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| Farm Field and Stone Fence in Snowfield. |
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| Stephen Leacock Museum, Orillia, Ontario |
So that's about it for this time. It's way too much for me ... I'm shivering just thinking about all that snow. I'm already longing for Florida, but ... that won't be until after Christmas.
Happy writing my fellow bloggers!
