World in white

During Friday afternoon and in the early hours of this morning, we had a good dump of snow. Our street looked beautiful and white with very few tyre tracks to spoil the view.

Our neighbours, the Crazies, had to have their car MOT’d today and I commiserated with Ms Crazy as she stripped the car of its thick layer of snow, contemplating the slippy, scary drive to the garage. Taking care, doesn’t come into it. Only essential driving is the clarion call.

Not that anyone living further north would understand. About six inches of snow is nothing when you think about the quantities in places like Fargo. Still, we’re not used to it: that’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it.

As usual I went shopping, trudging through the snow like some Arctic explorer, wrapped up warm, slowly avoiding the slippery bits of ice. Given I regularly fall over without the added frozen paths, I walked very slowly indeed.

The park had an eerie quality when I walked in to town. I saw a few regular dog walkers but there was a conspicuous absence of kids on sleds. This was at 9am and is quite unusual. This all changed for my trip home when the park was chokka’s with screams, bright parkas and bits of plastic flying down the slopes.

The biggest highlight of the day (sadly) was my new found ability to pay for my Starbucks using my phone. Ages ago, Starbucks brought out an iPhone app for paying but, like a lot of companies, the Android version was a long way behind. Then, when it did finally come out, it was for a different version of firmware than I had on my phone!

Of course, my new Galaxy S III handles these sort of financial dealings with aplomb. I hate being the last on the bus with these technological things but, having finally reached the back seats, I happily sat and enjoyed the view. Talk about easy. Love it.

The only annoying thing happened in Starbucks as well: the heating was set to volcanic. I felt like I was back in Queensland but without the benefit of shorts and thongs. Off came the many layers. It was a joy to leave and feel the cold on my face once more.

Back at home, we lit a fire and settled in for the duration. It’s days like this that I envy the bears and their hibernating skills.

On the jetlag front…Mirinda continues to suffer with her body still trying to figure out which time zone she’s in. Hopefully she’ll be completely re-adjusted by back to work Monday…though she may need snowshoes to get to the station.