I'm melting!

Weather is changing and the snow is slowly starting to melt. Here is a picture from a couple of days ago:

snowing again!

I can't believe that we've now had snow on the ground for 5 days and it's snowing again. I'm really loving the snow. The weather forecast says its going to start raining, though, so that's no fun.

Going snow shoeing for the first time out this season. Cypress has had about 150 cm of snow in the last week. Pictures to come.

our big chill is everyone else's small potatoes

Okay, no more whining about it being cold. We've got no risk of anything except rosy cheeks. Ever wondered how long it takes exposed skin to freeze? here is a handy chart. Brrrrrrr!

remembering when things had colours other than white

The view from my office window last week:

You thought I was kidding?

My balcony at home:

Thermometre at home:

House on the way to work:

Someone who is comfortable with the cold:

Inner courtyard at the office:

boil snow advisory

The boil water advisory is still in place, but I feel sure that tomorrow we'll be told it's now a boil snow advisory.

[EDIT: the boil water advisory was lifted. No boil snow advisory is in place, but it's always a good idea to avoid yellow snow.]

Argh. I had over a foot of snow on my car when I came back from the Island. It was too icy and snowy to even make it into the back alley, so I had to park on the street. I can't remember it ever snowing this early. Very beautiful, though.

question of the day

If someone has a mid-life crisis while playing hide & seek, does she automatically lose because she can't find herself?

stupid body trick of the day

From an email I received this morning.

A little test to do at your desk..... How smart is your right foot?

This is so funny that it will boggle your mind. And you will keep trying it at least 50 more times to see if you can outsmart your foot. But you can't!!!

While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.
Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

And there is nothing you can do about it.

Dammit - and I thought I had a smart right foot. I've always presumed it was the left one that was "a bit slow", but obviously I was wrong.

No, tell us what you really think...

In response to an email from a customer telling a company that they were cancelling the hire of a marquee for their upcoming wedding, an employee of a New Zealand company sent an email with the following comments: "Thanks for your reply. Your wedding sounded cheap, nasty and tacky anyway, so we only ever considered you time wasters." The email goes on from there - definitely read it to see the customer service fire bomb of the year.

The employee got fired. Weird twist: she's married to her employer. I wonder if they've put the ubiquitous tape line down the middle of the bed as well?

As if the whole incident wasn't bad enough, it's now hit the international media. And unless some trickster has faked up what seems to be a real company website, it seems that the whole thing is true.

Appalling, but really, what wouldn't you give every once and a while to tell a customer what you really thought?

equally weighting each moment

I've recently been thinking about life and living it in both the boring and exciting moments. Today's quote from Inward/Outward is a good one:

All Moments Are Key Moments

Frederick Buechner

"Taking your children to school and kissing your wife goodbye. Eating lunch with a friend. Trying to do a decent day's work. Hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize or not to recognize.... Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."

Source: Now and Then

Soon!

Cold weather and rain down here has meant lots of snow up on the hills...not that I've seen it - the clouds haven't lifted off the mountains in over a week.

Cypress is opening on Thursday! Maybe we'll hit the trails this weekend.

[Felicity and Anne last March]

much better than gingerham*

As I was in the car this evening, I was listening to the Night Time Review, a program of CBC Radio One. Host Shelagh Rogers (my most favorite radio host - she's amazing!) was interviewing Canadian author Adam Gopnik about his new book Through the Children's Gate. While I only caught part of the interview, the bit that jumped out at me was the discussion about kids' made up words. Adam was relating a story where his daughter, describing the death of an imaginary character, declared that the person had died of "bitterosity".

Does that just perfectly sum up that miasma of nastiness that surrounds some people?

[* gingerham was unfortunately not a made up word, but simply my own mispronunciation of gingham. I had read about gingham fabrics in my beloved Anne of Green Gables books, but had only ever sounded the word out in my head, accidently adding an "r" in the process. It took a bit of explaining to help my mom understood what I meant the first time I said the word out loud.]

Two of a kind

I find this totally facinating, as people often say to me "you look just like my best friend/cousin/co-worker/favorite aunt". For a long time, I assumed I had a generic face. I've started to take these comments as compliments, as the person I'm normally compared to is someone that makes the commenter happy - so maybe something in me is sparking a happy memory?

Or, maybe I just have dozens of doppelgangers out there in the world!

the place I call home

It rains a lot in Vancouver - especially at this time of year and definitely right now. It's cleared up a bit tonight and I also glimpsed the first snow on the mountains this afternoon. Snow shoeing soon!

A couple of people have asked for pictures of Vancouver. Here are a couple I have already, taken from my living room; one cloudy, one where you can see the mountains. Over the next while, I'll try to collect some more. If the clouds come off the mountains, I'll post a picture of the first snow.

[*EDIT - what you're looking at: looking north over the downtown area of Vancouver. Starting from the right, you can see the Cambie Street bridge with a glimpse of the waters of False Creek. The big white mushroom is BC Place Stadium. The flying sauce with the needle on top is Harbour Centre Tower. The mountains are the North Shore Moutains, with Mount Seymour on the far right and Grouse Mountain on the left.]

Potatoes in fancy dress

Two important members of Potatoes of the Night. Soon to be married!

Claire, if I email you this photo, can you photoshop it into sharp focus?

today's update brought to you by the letter "F"

You know what food starts with "f"? Well, lots of them. But the best of them all is french fry and the very, very best place in Vancouver to get that esteemed food stuff is Salade de Fruits. They're even better than the kebab shop, if that can be believed!

what a difference an hour makes

The sun is just fading in one of the loveliest sunsets I've seen in Vancouver for a long time. My office faces north and I can see most of downtown and all of the mountains. The sky is full of blue black clouds and the sun is shining off all the glass on the downtown buildings. You could see the layers upon layers in the clouds. It's that incredible winter light - full and richly saturated. The mountains are glowing that amazing light purple colour distinct to winter sunsets. I took a picture on my colleague's camera phone and if it turns out, I'll post it.

Vancouver. Even if we get socked in for months of rain, there are times of year that if you wait another hour, you'll have a totally different set of weather. Or at least, glimpses of the beauty that is underneath the rain clouds.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight?

a flower to brighten my cloudy day

Sometimes I wonder if Vancouver is two totally separate places - one place of sparkling glass and lovely mountains in the sunshine, and another place where no buildings over two stories tall can be seen in the clouds and rain. Is it me that transforms (regresses?) in the rain or the city?

In any event, the attached was taken in the Nunnery on the Isle of Iona. It is totally untouched - this was the colour in person.

p.s. Susan - I'm not sure as this counts as a legitimate update, given that you already have the photo!