SNOW

My wish has been delivered and OK Falls has received some decent snow over the past couple of days. Even though I have been in the snow before in various places around the world I still get a buzz out of seeing pristine, white snow laying everywhere.


To Canadians the snow isn't all that special or for that matter all that heavy, but to my mind it is just great and for now I can't get enough. There is something special about waking up in the morning and looking outside to see everything coated in frosty layers of snow that has fallen overnight. Suddenly a mundane and well-known landscape is turned into a glistening and pristine environment that looks so removed from the green's and brown's I am used to.


There are some downsides though!

Even though I consider myself an experienced driver, snow-driving is a different game altogether. This morning I had to drive a little way's down the road and in that short drive I had to be aware of so many things that are foreign to driving on dry roads in Australia.


Sometimes the tyres won't grip the road and then the car's traction control kicks in with a grinding, grating noise that almost always give me a fright. You have to slow down when cornering or turning and always be aware of obstacles hidden under the snow. Of course the visibility is affected when it is snowing and you always have to be on the lookout for other drivers doing something stupid or deer wandering onto the road.


So far I have found snow-driving to be just a little stressful.


Another consideration is the amount of clothes you have to put on every time you leave the house, there are no quick runs outside in shorts and t-shirt to grab the paper or to take the dog out. Well that is for normal people, I keep forgetting where I am and tend to do those things in my 'inside' clothes of said shorts and t-shirt and then complain when my bare feet freeze in the snow.

But on the positive side cold,snowy weather is ideal for staying inside and curling up with a good book by the fire or watching a movie on TV. But it is equally as nice to go for a long walk through the snow. I just love the crunch, crunching sound of snow under my boots. The dog loves it as well and charges through the snow, often with her nose down in the snow like a snow plough.


Then again a walk in the snow does have its drawbacks when you walking companion decides, to put snow down your neck or throw a snowball at your face without a hint of declaration of war. Canadians!


So for now I love my snowy adventures though it may ware off in time.

akmacca08@live.com.au