Winter at its Best

Twice a week I do community visits in the morning and then work at the hospital in the afternoon. The change of routine every other day is refreshing, especially since I don’t have to get up quite as early on my community mornings. Yesterday was the type of day that made me realize I did the right thing when I left full time home care work. Many roads to the west and north were closed due to snow squalls from Lake Huron that were driven across our region by high winds. The highways were impassable due to drifting and blowing snow.

Today was clear and cold, but the wind was not as strong. It was a beautiful day to drive in the country, the kind of day that makes it difficult to return to an indoor workplace.

Spectacular drifts have formed along the roadside, drifts that are much higher than most vehicles. The plows are kept busy pushing them back as they creep toward the roadway.

I stopped in the community where my husband’s ancestors settled after they arrived from Pennsylvania in 1800. The river was open at this spot and hundreds of geese and ducks competed for a spot in the water. There is a water treatment plant here, a source of some of our municipal supply. The river is likely warmed from discharge that comes from the facility. In the distance is the Pioneer Tower that commemorates the early settlers in this area.

Well, I did make it back to the hospital in time to catch this picture. The sun was reflected from the windows to make an interesting design on the unmarked snow in the courtyard. Last March, the movie Away from Her was filmed here over a six week period. The crew spent hours unrolling fake snow around the building and hosing it with water to make ice. They would have saved themselves a lot of work this year. (The movie was a hit at the recent Sundance Film Festival and will be in theatres on May 8^th…more on that another time)

Winter at its worst is grey, dull, slushy, and icy. Today was winter at its best.