
A winter evening clear and calm …

… a beautiful sight.
Happy Wednesday.

A winter evening clear and calm …

… a beautiful sight.
Happy Wednesday.
Some scenes from a recent walk.

We had a moisture-laden snowfall that is now melting quickly in our rising temperatures. It’s squishy, sloppy and wet, but completely nothing, of course, compared to what much of the rest of the continent is experiencing. Good luck with that ongoing situation everyone, and I hope winter is finished snowing on you.

Much too wet to sit here …

… but rising temperatures and clearing skies are wonderful to see …

… and hopefully harbingers of springy things to come!
Happy Tuesday.
Thankfully, the days are getting longer even if many of us are still contending with very snowy, cold, wet and/or windy conditions.

I’m hoping this is winter’s last hurrah before packing it in and declaring itself blown out!

Happy Monday.
… for the very, very beginning of spring?

Fingers crossed! And although I know that February can be temperamental, I take encouragement from the fact that temperatures are up, the wind is down, and the ice encrustments?

Those are starting to melt.
To everyone who lately experienced those huge snowfalls and wicked temperatures, I wish you very prompt blue skies and controlled – because of all that snow – meltings.
Happy Sunday.
The pond that the ducks have been inhabiting all winter is shrinking and shrinking.

If it wasn’t for the fountain, it would be completely closed and the ducks would be hunting for a place to swim and forage as there’s now a lot of ice around the lake edges.

But there’s relief coming since if all goes as predicted, we are supposed to be climbing well above freezing over the next few days. It won’t be long now, duckies!
Happy Saturday.
The wind has finally calmed, taking with it the clear but chilly high pressure system that we’ve experienced over the last few days.

As the wind dissipated, a low moved in bringing somewhat warmer temperatures – the windless conditions definitely contributed to that, too – and lots more cloud again. But the lake has calmed, the ducks and Canada geese are much happier now, and it’s a lot easier to keep your feet if you’re taking a lakeside walk!

Of course, with this low there’s going to be precipitation; we’ll see whether it’s wet snow or rain. This is quite different from February, 2024, when the sun was shining and we were definitely headed toward spring conditions; I’m starting to think that spring 2025 might be much later.

Happy pre-Valentine’s.

Fast unglaublich ist es, als über den dicken Nebelschwaden die Sterne sichtbar werden. Besonders hell scheint aber die Venus durch das diffuse Weiß …
Märchenstunde mit Venus
Beautifully dramatic and ethereal pictures from Lutz at Radelnder uHu. The post title translates as “Story Time with Venus.” Please click the link to see more of his stunning photography.
Clear and sunny but as blue-cold as the depths of a glacier …

… the wind whipping down this long, narrow lake, pushing before it ice birthed in the shallows …

… coagulating on the beaches and shores …

… a far cry from the warmth and beauty of the summer sun …
… can’t wait.
Happy Tuesday.
Once more, here is a “looking back” post containing pictures from years ago; photos that aren’t necessarily great but that are important to me.

I spent the month of January preparing for my new job which was due to start in February in Northwest Territories. As spring began to arrive in Penticton, I was about to enter into a much different weather world!

When I left Penticton, the temperature was 2C (35.6F) but I arrived in Yellowknife, the capital of Northwest Territories, to a frigid -41C (-48.1F). Luckily there was no wind. A 43 degree temperature difference meant that some careful packing was required but after many years of travel, army life and search and rescue challenges, I knew what to expect.

Within weeks of my arrival, an Inuit seamstress agreed to make a traditional parka for me, one that was longer than most and was roomy enough for several layers underneath. I was so thankful for it during my entire time there!


My northern adventure was just beginning.
Happy Monday.
We have had a lot of wind, very cold, and with the odd spritz of rain or teeny bit of snow …

… but it has been sunny and that has helped a lot.

Nevertheless this wind really has a mind of its own. Rattling windows and bare branches and trying to grab my scarf or car door, there’s a lot of discontent in its undulating wintery sighs and moans.
Happy Weekend.