I was so excited to experience a snowy winter and not knowing what life would be like in that climate. Anyone who knows us would know that we love the heat. Honeymooning up north in Palm Cove and the Daintree as well as the many trips back and forth from Perth is testament enough of our love of the sun. But spending time in a new city on the other side of the world where the climate is topsy-turvy this time of year was going to be an experience of a lifetime.
I will never forget the first flurries that came down from the sky. We were both on our way to church and at first I didn't notice anything, but as we were going inside Mel said to me "I think it was starting to snow out there, I didn't want to say anything in case you thought I was crazy, but I felt these little white things falling on me". Admittedly I did think she was crazy as I had not felt a thing. But as we were sitting there singing our first few hymns, we looked out the window and there it was. Our first snowfall. It was falling so slowly and twirling around in the gentle breeze. They were kind of like small feathers floating backwards and forwards. I almost jumped out of my chair with excitement and couldn't wait for the service to finish so that I could get out and feel it. But first I had to apologise to Mel for telling her it may have been dandruff....oops.
What amazed me once we got outside was that it was not that cold. Obviously as the temperature has been dropping we have been dressing more appropriately. I am never without a beanie and scarf, Mel without her gloves and cute beret or bonnet. But we seriously weren't expecting snow on this day as it was not forecast. It was so nice to walk home as it was falling. But these flakes were not big enough to leave a cover on the ground as they melted straightaway when they hit the pavement.
So as much as this was our first experience of it falling, the big stuff was yet to come.
We have a wonderful balcony through the French doors of our bedroom. One morning we woke up and as we opened the curtains it was coming down thick and fast. Once again I couldn't wait to get up and just get out amongst it. I had literally just got dressed when I opened the door and just rolled out to feel it. I was so inappropriately dressed for such a heavy downfall as I got absolutely saturated as the snow melted on me.
We all quickly went outside and had a play with Roxy to see how she would go. This was her very first experience with snow and my first thought was that she would be a princess and not want to lay one paw outside the back door. But talk about duck to water! she was running around and rolling in it like she was a pig in mud (3 animal references in one paragraph is a bit too much isn't it). She chased me around as I was doing wheelies in the middle of the street not even thinking about the traffic. The neighbours must have thought we were crazy. This snowfall didn't last very long and only left a few centimetres on the ground. But it was still so beautiful and making the landscape look like nothing we had ever seen.
Our biggest fall came a couple of weeks later when we had a coverage of about 6 inches of snow. To the north of us a place called London in Ontario, had a blizzard the same day when they had 6 feet of snow dumped on them in just a couple of hours, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded on a highway for 24 hours. It was around the same time that Europe was getting battered as well. We were very lucky to only receive such a small amount. Apparently it has something to do with being situated right on one of the great Lakes, that is Lake Ontario, and what the weather does around it. This time though we have the opportunity to go over to the park across the road and play around a lot more in it. Here are two videos of Roxy and I doing laps in the park. (as you can see more appropriately dressed. We both have these wonderful jackets that are down filled with a hood and are waterproof!)
You may all be wondering how the wheelchair goes in the snow. Well above is answer. It actually handles really well and can plough through quite thick snow. It does get extremely dirty as you can imagine but it is a lot of fun. The only time we all need to be really careful is when you come across black ice. Mel had been telling me that every now and then a foot would give way when she had stepped on some snow that turned to ice. You usually don't see it until you've stepped on it and then it's too late. You either completely lose your balance and fall over or you go for a slide like Dick Van Dyke and the penguins in Mary Poppins. I experienced my first black ice run in the other day. I was wheeling down the side of a house and negotiating the thin laneway that separates us from the neighbours and all of a sudden I came to a stop even though I was pushing forward on my wheelchair controller. No matter which way I pushed the joystick my chair would not move as the wheels were just spinning on this black ice. Forwards, backwards or sideways didn't work. It was like being on a treadmill. Had Mel not been home I would have been stuck in the same spot for hours. It's amazing how slippery it is.
The only 2 other negative things about the snow that I will mention before I continue talking about how beautiful it is, is how dirty it can get on the foot paths and roads as it starts to be trodden on. The snow on the roads turn to a browny grey color and all cars look more dirty than the Hilux down on the farm. As I said, the wheelchair and even Mels boots get quite dirty after a day of getting around in slush. Salt is put down on the ground to dry up the snow from paths and for extra grip and it can also get quite dirty and mushy. Unfortunately it is not good on Roxy's feet as the salt gets into her paws, dries them up and cracks them open. We have bought her snow boots to wear when we go out which are very cute. Admittedly it takes her a little while to get used to them and she walks around like a newborn Giraffe, but it is essential to keep her feet in good condition.But back to the splendour that is the snowfall and how it contributes to the look of the land. It is amazing the contrast in seasons over this side of the world. We have come to realise that back home it really does just go green, green, green, dead in terms of vegetation. Yes we get a few different colours and a bit of falling foliage in autumn but there's really no definite change of scenery from season to season. The summer here was very bright and all of the leaves were green and lush. Autumn/Fall came and everything turned to a sea of colour, reds, oranges, purples and yellows. It was like a florist had come in and decided to do an arrangement on the city. There were not two trees side-by-side that were the same colour. And as Fall turned into Winter everything literally did fall. The ground was covered with every leaf from every tree and everyone was raking up their front yards and foots paths.
But now the temperatures have dropped and we are consistently below zero. The wind chill is a big thing over here. You always get a wind chill factor after every temperature prediction by the weather people. If it is -12 you have to add on another -8 to -10° wind chill, so really it will feel like -20°.
It is starting to snow more regularly. Every couple of days we tend to have a few hours of snowfall and it stays on the ground for a long time. the only time the snow disappears is when it melts if we get a day above 0° or there is rain. But that is very rare when the temperature is this low, hence it turns into snow.
Lately we have experienced probably our heaviest and longest period of snowfall. I can only estimate that we have had a foot of snow. It has left the neighbourhood looking amazing. All the roofs on all the houses have a wonderful coverage of white fluffy snow and every tree branch has a few inches precariously balancing on it until the wind comes up and slightly shakes it off. The streets are busy with people shovelling their paths and driveways while big trucks with even bigger plows drive close to the gutters and remove snow from the road.
There is really not much else I can say that can describe how beautiful the snow is, but we could sit at the window and watch snow falling all day. It is true what they say about every snowflake being a different shape. When a piece falls on your jacket and you get a quick glimpse of it before it melts, you can see the different dimensions of the pure white crystals. We will never forget that.
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| Children tobogganing at the local baseball fields. |
