The Shrill Wind Blew ~ Nearing a Record Snowfall... There is Still Time...

The shrill wind blew about the house
And through the pines all night:
The snowflakes whirled across the fields
And hid the fence from sight.







By dawn the drifts had blown so deep
No horse nor sleigh could go
The dog- house and the chicken –coops
Were buried in the snow.







There was no thought of school that day
We worked with shovels all,
And cleared a path from house to barn:




The snow was like a wall




I wished our house was covered up, Like that one in the book
My grandma showed to me one day
Beside the chimney – nook

The story said the chimney – pot
Just showed above the snow,
And all day long the lamps were lit
Down in the house below.

K. Pyle



This past winter in Ottawa could very well be the winter what Pyle described in his poem from very long ago. With a near record snowfall of 419.4 cm, last I took note; it sure was one to never forget!
This winter so far has been a real test for Canadians! The Prairies were enveloped in a deep freeze, while Prince Edward Island stepped back in time with no power and Central and Atlantic Canada felt they had beamed themselves up to the North Pole in igloos under tons of snow.

I didn’t mind the colossal dump of powdery white stuff one bit.
While some people around me complained I caught up with a lot of unfinished projects ; after all I had my two kids to do all the shoveling outdoors so I really didn’t have a problem and neither did my daughter who saw herself at home for three snow days in one week…that was a record ! It’s not as if we were out of power and in a deep freeze like back in 98,this time,everything was comfy and cozy at the home front.
The only real problem was my poor golden couldn’t find a spot to pee in until the kids dug out the path in the front of the yard for her to go.
All in all the experience for this transported alien from way back in 64 was one of reveling in the good old days of the big Canadian snowfalls all snuggled up by the fire amongst the family;safe from all the perilous elements of nature and man.

And on that note I’d take the dangerous elements of nature, like enormous snowfalls any old day to that of man.
I say this because just only yesterday was April Fools’ Day and when picking up my daughter after class, I noticed three police cruisers outside the school. I didn’t think much of their presence only imagined that maybe some kid got caught with drugs. But the real story turned out to be gun shots were overheard outside the school. Some comedian wanted to have fun and decided to use a paintball gun to stir things up. Long ago it would have been funny but these days you never know; funny how quickly one forgets past history and the uncertainties of life ; that one takes wonderful moments and things for granted thinking it will always be there. But the fact is it won’t! Nothing stays forever,” nothing stays gold!”
So be happy that we still have these snowfalls for the farmer down south will have no drought like last year. And yes, the expense of it all; who said that it was free?

Winter will officially come to its end this coming Thursday with the arrival of spring but that’s not to say snow will stop there! If we pick up that lucky penny that you may come across in the parking lot {that is if you still can find one…}, we just might get lucky and set a new record.
You didn’t think that was it for the snow, did you?
You know that here in Canada good old winter sometimes forgets to go back up north for some more months to come like say July…hehe!

Anyway,“To Everything There is a Season” and so now I will embrace the coming of spring;that is if it decides to come and I'll be glad that I took pleasure in the giant snowfall we had here in Ottawa and remember in delight the positive funny side to our Canadian winter. After all, is it not a big part of being a Canadian… Eh?


Finally....Comfort!

A Little Sledding !


And some quality time spent with dad snowshoeing!