December 6th, 2009:
-15° this morning, with a skiff of new snow. That’s the way it was last December – just a little snow every day; not enough to call out the snow removal guys, but it gradually built up as traffic packed it. Eventually, when it had to be removed, it was so hard our snow removal guys couldn’t handle it. We have a different contractor this year; yesterday, before we got up, they were around with a blower and swept our sidewalks clean. When the snow gets deeper, they have a bobcat on tracks that can handle anything.
I got an e-mail from Bill and Lynda Gudjonson at Greenwater Park – they say that the lake froze over on November 24th this year. The latest I have records of is November 30th, 1999 so it hasn’t been as warm as we thought. They also said they got their first real snow last Monday, and figure it is here to stay. The snowmobile crowd will be happy to hear that!
Friday was pretty cold, -16° when we got up but I think it was colder overnight. The trees had a marvelous coating of hoar frost. Driving west on 108th Street, the frosty elms arched over the street and the sky to the west was pink from the sunrise. Beautiful! As usual, my camera was sitting on the desk at home. I suspect with morning traffic, standing in the middle of the street taking pictures might be frowned on.
After our Sunseekers breakfast yesterday, we went to the Sundog Craft Fair at Credit Union Centre. It was busy when we got there, but by the time we left, two hours later, it was wall-to-wall people. I’ve no idea how sales went, but I know some people went there to finish up Christmas shopping. Our daughter, Laurie Grimson, was putting in some time at a Rug Hookers booth so we managed a short visit with her. Also ran into Sharon Fowler; she and her husband, Brian, have a cottage at Greenwater and we have known them for many years.
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There has been enough snow to make the streets icy in spots. As we approached Berini from Webster yesterday, a small car with a bunch of kids in it took the turn off Berini and went into a skid. I thought we were going to have to take defensive action, but the driver got it under control and carried on. If we had been a little farther along…….
We had a surprise visit from Mike Tatarynovich of Crooked River and his sister, Donna Kowalchuk, who lives in the city. Mike is an accomplished photographer and quite often has photos printed in calendars and other publications. Mike took a picture of us plus our daughter, Jenny, before he left and sent me the prints in the mail. Thanks, Mike! |
