Another Opinion Among Many

Photo courtesy of Google Earth (thank you)

So there’s a hurricane in the Atlantic that they’ve dubbed “Bill”.  It passed Bermuda Friday night and has reached land again along the coast of Nova Scotia. This is hurricane season, so this is not news. It dropped to a category 1 hurricane as it tracked north up the warm waters from the  gulf stream.  The rain started here in New Brunswick sometime around 8:30am. In that short time (its 11:15am now), our empty rain barrel has filled to 2/3. It hasn’t been too windy here, but where the storm is at its worst, on the south shore of Nova Scotia, near Yarmouth, the storm will be at its worst. The eye is approaching this region now.

It may be that “Bill” will be as ferocious or more than “Juan” was. The Weather Network has decided to track this hurricane from beginning to end. This has prompted all of the news shows and stations across Canada to follow suit and report on this storm as if its the apocalypse.

I don’t remember any other time when a storm has gotten so much media coverage here. When “Katrina” and “Rose” passed through the Gulf of Mexico, there was a lot of coverage because a series of strong storms like that hadn’t swept through the Gulf in a very long time. Katrina was a category 4, I believe, at the time she hit New Orleans.

I’m wondering if there’s just not any bigger news going on right now or if this is truly a bigger storm than usual. I do know that “Bill” is a big hurricane that covers a lot of the map. So, is “Bill” a bigger threat to the Atlantic coast than ant other storm? Or, are we just dramatizing the current situation?

Damn! Its -34°C outside right now. If the wind blows, it feels like -42°C. I thought that was a temperature reserved for places like Winnipeg.  I don’t like this, especially since our place is heated with electricity and the power flickered about an hour ago.

Frozen Ninjas

[photopress:cutecalebinbed.JPG,thumb,pp_image]So, the weather network is decrying bad things, like a 30cm snow/ice-fall warning. What wacky weather we’ve had this month. Its bee -30°C and +10°C. Today was -26°C and tomorrow is supposed to be around 0C. But, tonight, its supposed to start snowing and not stop.

Will schools be canceled? I’m taking bets (not for money). I’m saying no for now. I’ll update at 5-6am

This morning, I was late for work.

I did not leave late. It usually takes about 6-7 minutes to drive from my house to work. Today, I left, as usual, about 35 minutes before I was to start. But, I was 15 minutes late.

The reason that I was late is because there was a huge accident on the Westmoreland St bridge, which connects my area of the city to the south side. Both directions were blocked, so traffic was jammed up across the whole span. The southbound traffic is what usually fills the bridge in the morning. After a few folks in the inside lane realized that they were going nowhere fast, they U-turned northbound and headed off the bridge.

Once the way was clear, I did the same and headed for the Princess Margaret bridge, which was in the opposite direction from my workplace. I was only 15 minutes late.

There were several cars involved in the accident and I’ve not heard if anyone was seriously hurt or not. The road was bare this morning, but I imagine that, since it was -27°C this morning, some people had a hard time getting their cars started on time. Add that to a chronic late departure is a recipe for an accident any day. I see the same thing happen when it storms. These accidents happen because someone stopped paying attention at the wrong moment, usually because they’re in too much of a hurry.

Is dying or killing worth being “on time”? Personally, I’d rather be late and live. Or, even better, I check out the weather forecast the night before so that I know if I will have to get up a bit early to shovel my car out or if I have to allow extra time in case my car won’t easily start. It only takes a minute and I arrive alive. I sure wish that these poor folks, who at the least have smashed up cars, had done the same. Nobody needs the results of an accident.

I can’t decide which. I must applaud you for sitting through the game in that frigid weather. Its here, now! I was wondering when we were going to have real cold again. I guess that was today. This is the first time that our car had trouble cranking over. This morning, I went out about 6 times just to get it circulating enough to spark itself up. I managed to get it going (under much protest), even without being plugged in. Thank you to the jerk who stole my 30 foot exterior cord, by the way. I hope that it cracked and left you to freeze somewhere!

But, seriously, folks! With the wind chill, its -29°C outside right now (-20°C without – but its a little windy). I know that you sat through that kind of cold for hours! You’re dedicated. Naw, you’re nuts!

It’ll be nice to see the nice balmy temperatures that Toronto has, like -6°C!

Who am I kidding? The weather forecast is for 15-30cm of snow and high winds, causing “white out” conditions. Nice. Perhaps the departure may be delayed for a day. We’ll see in the morning…

It’s morning and we’re still here…click the images for a larger version.

So, it looks like its departure Jan 3rd! So, now I have a day off and time to get to the tire shop before they close! That is, unless he’s closed up due to weather…

Its snowing outside right now.  The flakes are quite large and fluffy and its coming down reasonably heavily.  The snowfall is heavy enough that its altering the “color” of the air to a mist-like whiteness.  Its blanketing everything in its path in its generic whiteness.  It dampens sounds and one feels like they are being separated from the rest of the world by the snow’s insulative isolation.

I’ve noticed that even on busy week days, snow like this will still create this feeling.  The isolation does not induce loneliness, though.  Its  more of a protective coating that sheilds one from the normal hustle and bustle of the human world.  On a weekend like this day, though, most activity slows down and only those who really have to get out of their homes venture to do so.

So, why is it that the potential real isolation of a heavy snowfall brings comfort instead of fear? Is it because we equate fluffy snowflakes with fuzzy soft toys or pets? Is it because it forces us to slow down? Is it because snowfall deadens the sharp sounds, dulling reality? Or, is it something more metaphysical in that its covering up of the dirty ground causes a latent triggering of some primitive inner cathartic  mechanism that we don’t normally have access to? Why does a blanket of snow feel like a fresh start?