snow, snow, snow....

Ah, the beauty of snow. I took these last week and will be dealing with the same bleak road conditions and winter weather blusteries today. School is cancelled, but the parents have to go to work. This isn't fair!

"Passable, but snow covered and slippery...visibility is fair to poor depending on the wind blowing in your area....." that's what the experts say. YUK, YUK, YUK!

It has been snowing since yesterday morning....light snow which has accumulated quietly and it continues. This doesn't stop life around here like it would in other parts not used to this weather. Rather, it just makes it messy and frustrating.....it tests your self motivation reserves.

Oh, yes there is beauty in the fresh fallen snow. I'm just not seeing it this morning as I gather my energy to go forth and deal with it. OH! They just announced the temps are going to increase by noon which will make the snow turn into freezing rain! Oh Goodie!! Happy Monday!

I wanna stay home!!

updates and thoughts........

It's early evening and all is quiet. I'm hoping to hear the sound of a snowblower revving up on the street........one of my many neighbours with that kind of toy who will save me from renting a jackhammer to clear out the end of my driveway. I tried to shovel the stuff after work when I got home, hoping it would've loosened up a bit from the warmish temps today. No such luck. The storm that hit yesterday brought snow, ice pellets and rain which then froze over like cement by morning.

Does this not sound like a little piece of hell?

However, I do have hope. This is a street filled with boys with toys. Charlie, the cigar chomping Hummer driver with a superb francophone accent, AND a pick up truck with a plow on the front of it isn't home from work yet. Normally, on his way past my house, Charlie will get us out of a snowpile jam with his pick up if he happens to be driving that vehicle. He's a little heavy handed and footed with his help and has in the past dug up the side of the driveway in his attempts to be neighbourly....... the last time he helped, he heaved up the snow and blocked off the side door and the whole side of the house with a 10 foot wall of the stuff. But, he means well........ and if he could just plow by tonight, I wouldn't care if I can't use the side door until June.

Perhaps if I made a pathetic swipe with my little Canadian Tire shovel and then had a coughing spasm in the middle of the attempt while standing under the streetlight so the neighbours could see me, then I would be rescued. Its a thought. So is waiting until tomorrow when it's supposed to warm up again............

The problem? If it doesn't get done tomorrow.......... another f****ing storm is arriving on Saturday and I will be DOOMED!!




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I'm home alone. While I write this, my daughter is in Florida for March break with her friend, staying with her Grandparents (my Mom and Dad). I just got off the phone with her. They just made a successful trip to Target (a store not seen in these parts.......). I laughed when I heard the Ladies who spend their winters in the Sunshine State, remarked to Martha and Rachel when they arrived poolside in their teeny tiny bikinis and their lily white bodies......... that they better be careful in the sun with their virgin skin. Ah, New Brunswick winters have the magic of turning anyone's skin virgin like again. It's immaculate.

My husband and son are also away...........on a road trip with another father and son combo to Boston! As I write, they are ALL sitting in an IMAX theatre getting blown away by U23D!!!! Their itinerary today? Big breakie at Denny's.......tour of Fenway Park........Aquarium to see sharks........U23D at the Aquarium Imax............dinner somewhere and the piece de resistance? The Toronto Maple Leafs vs. The Boston Bruins.


As much as I would LOVE to be lying on a beach in Florida with my virgin skin, I would LOVE to be tripping it out in Boston today with the boys.



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Tonight, I didn't make dinner. It was grand. Instead, I ate a whole bowl of fresh strawberries and washed it down with a glass of wine. I positioned myself in the big comfy chair by the window in the living room that overlooks the river..............facing west. I tried to ignore that fact that the river is frozen over and covered in snow cement. Instead, I thought about how LOTS of snow is a good thing for strawberry fields, and raspberry bushes. I wondered if it would help protect the blueberry hills........and if it would hinder the maple sap running this month...... I realized how it may be a good thing for my perrenials all dormant and desperate to seek sun again.

And while I enjoyed my strawberries despite the distance they had to travel to reach me at this time of year, I caught sight of the dancing light on the rooftops on the other side of the river....I watched the sun slide behind the hills leaving wisps of pale orange....... I stared at the naked branches of the huge oak trees in my neighbours backyard, enjoying the silouette strength they exhibit at twilight, remembering just how gorgeous they were in their autumn glory and thinking how beautiful they will be when they bud in newness.



This winter has been drudgery.........no doubt about it. And, it's definately not over. As much as I would like to escape it right now....... I wouldn't trade my home for another place to live. Why? Because, there is nothing like seeing and feeling and INHALING the first true signs of spring after a long hibernation when you live in Canada. There is a sense of thanksgiving, hope and accomplishment all mixed together on the first day I find myself mucking about in my garden. I do love living where there are 4 distinct seasons. I guess if one could eliminate the month of March, then real true spring wouldn't be so exquisitely sweet.


The game is on TV.........hockey in March is never a good time for the Maple Leafs but maybe my two men will bring them some luck tonight. At the end of the first period? It's tied one all. This game has been on the calendar since Christmas morning when the tickets were presented to Max.........I hope it's a barn burner for his excited pleasure.

restlessness..........

Restlessness has the capacity to dwarf meaning with it's unrelenting chatter. It's like a hum you can't shake..........a tinnitus of the soul. It's always there niggling away and if you aren't aware of it's presence, you can easily feed it the wrong food.

March has arrived like a lion, and if there's anything to that myth, there bloody well better be a lamb waiting at the end of it. More snow, cold winds, grey skies this weekend........... the view outside my window is a scene right out of a Bergman movie.

I'm tapped out of anything uniquely interesting to write about. Restlessness is winning, which is also a sign that I'm almost over this crazy flu bug. My energy is returning......not fully, but almost...... gotta find my optimism again. It's stuck under 5 frigging feet of snow!

Tomorrow, back to the grind. The month of March sucks.

Weather tales

Ever start a conversation talking about the weather? Of course you have. It's an international ice breaker........safe and non intrusive surface skimmer, right? Sure thing.....unless of course you live in the Canadian Maritimes. Here, one never knows how DEEP the conversation will flow.

There's a saying around these parts.......If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. Believe it or not, there is a strong thread of truth to that piece of advice. I could wax poetic about the many times just this past summer when this was true........and then I could tie it into events that were planned or happening or ruined or enhanced because of the turn of the weather. Then, I could share with you a story or two about the people who were at the event and how it affected them. Can you see how talking about the weather can lead you down a weather front? We have 4 seasons around here: fall, winter, spring and road construction season. Consequently, the variations to the stories and the "I remember whens" are infinite.......

More often than not, the interviews or counselling sessions I am leading begin right at this very spot.....on the corner of Barometer and WeatherVane. Heck, conversations with total strangers rev up nicely shooting the breeze about the.... ahem........breeze. In fact, it is a running joke with my family that if I'm left to my own devices, I inevitably find myself verbally cavorting with someone while waiting to be picked up at the store, or in front of my office, or wherever I seem to be standing.

The chat begins innocently enough.......... a "hot enough for ya?" is pitched at me and we're off to the races.

A hot muggy July day comes to mind.... I'm sitting on the curb in front of the Superstore in Amherst, Nova Scotia waiting for my family to return from dining at McD's. I was stocking up for a weekend in Spencer's Island, and though it is our normal routine on our way to our destination, I can safely say I know no one personally living in this city.

So........I'm sitting there trying not to move too much because it is very hot, watching a man come out of the liquorstore next door. People watching........my favourite pastime. Before I know it, this guy saunters over and asks me if I'm comfortable sitting on the curb on such a hot day.

I answer...........Yes, it's much cooler down at ground level.

Right away, he starts telling me about how hot it was when they originally built the building and how he was involved in tiling (or whatever it is) the outside of the building with the sun glaring down on them.

I'm still sitting on the ground looking up at this guy.......smiling..........

So, I ask a few questions about the building and his type of work, etc and how difficult it is to do outdoor work in this country because of the changes in weather etc. He agrees. An urge comes over me to make one comment..........

"You must still work outside because you're very tanned. " And OH MY GOD, we're off to the races. In a matter of 5 minutes I learn...........

• No, he's not working anymore. He just likes to be outdoors.

• He permanently injured his back and legs from years of labour work.

• He's applying for a disability pension

• He's been denied twice and is appealing it.

• He has Dr so and so and Dr. so and so on his side............do I know them? NO? Where am I from?

I tell him...........and ask a few questions, since this is an area I am VERY familiar with since it is my job in the neighbouring province.

He needs to tell his story and I'm interested so the conversation continues.....(still within a 5 or 10 minute time frame)

• He also has a head injury
• He was in a bad farming accident when he was a kid living in Germany
• They thought he was going to die, but he survived and had to learn to do everything all over again
• He moved to Canada to seek out a new life as a young adult
• He had trouble reading

on and on....................simply because it was an acknowledged hot muggy day.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my family motoring towards me in the van, laughing because they know it's happened again.

Ask someone in these parts about a specific event.......Easter, birthday, family reunions, the day their team won the Stanley Cup............or a tragic event, like 9-11, chances are great that they will begin their answer with the description of the weather. It's just the way it is.

And it's the way we connect with one another at a deeper level than just skimming the surface.

Storms move in and storms move out capturing the feel of a Maritimer story, bookending the human being chapters, offering up a tale to tell. So, be prepared for a leisurely paced conversation if you ever visit this part of the world. Because when the weather is involved, there is NO telling how long the conversation will last or just what you might learn.