Fun and Games and the Topography of Winter

This could be the coldest week of the year: after the January thaw we often have the deep freeze. This morning the radio reported temperatures of minus 25 Celsius (about minus 10 F) in the country, and minus 17 C (not quite 0 F) in town. The sun is out, though, and with the snow which fell on Tuesday it promises to be a day of blinding sunshine. Great weather, if you’re dressed properly

Last night one of my book groups met in the neighborhood, and as the five of us from Durocher walked home about 11:30 p.m. we laughed to see a big snow plow parked in front of a souvlaki place. For the night? Or just while the driver took a break?

The answer came in the next block where the snow had been carefully cleared from along the curbs, but a long ridge remained down the middle. It wasn’t interfering with traffic—at that hour there weren’t many cars out—and some how it made the quiet street seem almost country-like. How the topography changes when water vapour freezes as it falls to earth!

As I said, it was night when we passed, and even though the nearly full moon was out, I didn’t have my camera with me to take a picture. So I’m including one from December when the Hasidic boys next door played in the snow and watched the snow removal operations while they waited for their school bus.

P.S. This morning the plow AND the ridge of snow had disappeared.