“…the snow is white where lies three forts”

This morning I came downstairs to another world. The same fire, yes; the kitchen warm and yellow-walled. But so much snow outside!

I filled the bird feeder and immediately the chickadees swarmed it, appearing out of nearby trees. I could see our tracks on the driveway, softened by the night’s fall. We drove down to Vancouver on Monday to have dinner with our son Brendan who was at UBC for a few days to do some math. When we drove home yesterday, the highway was whited out just past west Sechelt but then we realized we were following a snow-plow. Wasn’t that fortuitous? And when we got closer to Madeira Park, we saw two snow-plows pulled over by the hardware store. So we pulled over too. One of the guys came to our Element and said the other guy was just working on his wind-screen (we saw him to into the hardware store and return with a long brush and scraper) but if we wanted to wait, we could trail them all the way home. What an invitation. Here’s our guide at Misery Mile, the part of the highway that winds along past Gunboat Bay.

We had to park down by the highway but we were prepared for that; the sleigh was in the back of the car. We tromped up the driveway to the house, pulling the groceries on the sleigh. Most years we get a little snow in winter but not usually this much. And it’s cold. Not minus 46 as it was in Nazko when my brother called the other day. Luckily the power hasn’t gone out, though we have candles, oil lamps, and our trusty woodstove in that event. But the world is different, even though the news is the same. Quiet, white, the old familiar landmarks hidden.