The White Stuff

You may have heard that much of BC, including Victoria, has been blanketed in snow this week. While not so much for the rest of BC, this is a fairly rare event for Victorialand. I have to say: the snow has been a mixed blessing. On one hand, it looks completely gorgeous. I managed to snap a few photos on Monday, which I haven't developed yet but have high hopes for.

On the other hand, different fingers. Victoria as a city is completely unprepared and unable to cope with this kind of weather. It hasn't snowed since Monday and things are still nowhere near normal. You may recall that the city sold its only snow plow back in 1995: the year before the blizzard of '96. Fortunately, Pati and I were back in Ontario celebrating the Christmas holidays when that one struck, so we only had to deal with the aftermath a week later when we flew home, which was bad enough. But apparently things were completely insane in the days before we returned, as opposed to moderately insane days after our homecoming.

This time is no different. I couldn't get to work on Monday because the buses stopped running. Shortly after I woke up I heard on the local branch of CBC radio that the conditions were so bad that the bus drivers had been ordered to stop at their next scheduled bus stop and just sit there waiting for things to improve. Taking a cab would cost a mint and they were backed up with calls anyway. The only option was to walk, which would have taken me an hour and a half minimum. So I did the only sane thing: I emailed work and let them know that I was staying home.

Snow day!

I hung out at home, playing video games, taking pictures and enjoying Pati's company. I had the rare opportunity to use my snowshovel, and happily cleared my walkway. I was of a small minority. Victorians, by and large, do not shovel their walks even though they are legally obligated to do so (They are generally not even aware of this. Myself, I would shovel regardless).

I'm thinking of renaming this blog "Griping about Victoria".

Here's another one: few people in Victoria are capable of driving in the snow and virtually no one has all-weather tires. There were numerous accidents, lots of people stuck in snowdrifts and sliding on ice.

Anyway, enough rambling on my part. Here's to future Victorian Snow Days!