Monday, January 16, 2012

Snow In Vancouver

One of the reasons I love living in Vancouver is precisely because we get just enough snow to enjoy it all, but never to the point where we consider it a nuisance or a hassle. Unlike our counterparts in northern B.C., or the Prairies, or the Atlantic Provinces, or in the Northwest Territories, who are subjected to the bone-chilling cold, windchill, blizzards, whiteouts, and what not of winter, we in Vancouver, welcome the snow with delight and gay abandon, and that's only because we know the rain will eventually come and melt it all away. Nevertheless, when the mercury dips to a low, anywhere near zero, we never fail to complain as well, which makes our fellow countrymen roll their eyes and exclaim, "Seriously, is a minus 6 degree weather COLD for you?!? Suck it up, you wusses, you have no idea what a minus 40 degree weather is like!"

And so it happens, Vancouver got its share of snow at last, mid-winter, and enough for children to squeal in delight and run into the yards and streets and parks to make their very own snowmen, with the adults on hand to help them in their enjoyment of this once-a-year wonder. It's magical indeed to stand at one's window and watch the outline of the world outside being defined by the white stuff, falling ever so softly and blanketing the plants and trees and grass and lights and rooftops in its own seductive way. Coming from a country of blazing hot summers, I find the winters in my adopted homeland full of mystique and charm and romance, as I view them from indoors, particularly from the warmth of my living room. I love to keep this romance intact, and I dare not imagine the brutality of the elements in the wilderness beyond. Winter is beautiful when one feels warm and secure, but not in the least when one is exposed to its fury, and I clearly belong to the former category of winter/snow lovers.

South of the 49th parallel, our neighbors are being pummeled by Old Man Winter, but we in Vancouver are wholly into it. I, for one, am on the side of Vivaldi, and enjoy the snow whenever we get our fair share of it. Here's Vivaldi's "Winter" from his FOUR SEASONS of 1725, that captures how I feel about the season:

"To shiver, frozen, amid icy snow
In the bitter blast of a horrible wind;
To run constantly stamping one's feet;
And to feel one's teeth chatter on account of the excessive cold;
To spend restful, happy days at the fireside
While the rain outside drenches a good one hundred
To walk on the ice,
And with slow steps to move about cautiously
For fear of falling;
To go fast, to slip and fall down;
To go on the ice again and run fast
Until the ice cracks and open up;
To hear coming out of the iron gates
Sirocco, Boreas and all the winds at war:
That's winter! but of a kind to gladden one's heart."

2 comments:

  1. nature and man wonderfully related by your reading of literature.

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  2. Thanks a lot, Sheela! It's heartening to find my student from oh so long ago commenting on my post! :)

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