Dude, where's my car.

We went to the cottage this weekend and couldn’t believe the amount of snow!
I think there is as much already as there was at the end of February last year – and it’s not even Christmas yet.

When we arrived on Friday night, it was -21 degrees – BRRR. Definitely one of those nights where having our new furnace is a wonderful thing. I think back to the nights that we went to bed in our down coats and hats after putting on a wood fire – and I don’t miss them!!

Luckily, the weather had warmed considerably by Saturday morning, and then the snow began to fall AGAIN. I went to town to run Santa-type errands and while I was out about another 5” fell. Rick had the task of getting the snow off the front deck. Because it is between the two sides of the cottage, it really drifts there in the wind, so in some spots it was over 2’ deep.

In a normal winter in Parry Sound, when there is this much snow, the lake is frozen and we can don our skis and go for a long, easy trek. Not this time of year - it's way too early. There are lots of huge open spots where the hot springs come up through the cover of snow. But someone said that they had seen a snowmobiler out on a small lake. I really don’t get the death wish that seems to overtake some sledders. We’ll wait till there is a good 8” of ice before we venture out.

While we slept on Saturday night, another 10” fell. It really does look spectacular there, and as long as you have nowhere to go, you can sit all day and admire it. Since we did need to come back to the big bad city, we were happy that our friend Peter (our Cottage Keeper) came with his trusty snowblower and cleaned out the driveway. There’s only so much shovelling we 50+ folks can do in one weekend.

By the time we left yesterday, it was +6 and raining. What a change in less than 48 hours. And when we got back to Toronto, nearly all the snow was gone. I think I much prefer it up north anyway, so if anyone asks for my vote, I say that all snow goes to Barrie and further north. For those of you reading, who are not familiar with these landmarks, that is about 100 km north of Toronto – the cottage is another 125 km north of that.

Those folks can use the snow for tourism and such. I’m happy to let them have it all, along with all our snow removal equipment, if they can just figure out a way to get Mother Nature to heed that demarcation line.

In the meantime, it did put me in the mood. Sitting at the kitchen table, looking out the window at this view. Christmas carols playing in the background. It was positively serene and I feel ready for the festivities to begin.

And, joy of joys, the car started first try. And got out of the driveway without a single skid.