Sound of Snow
We now have about 40 centimetres in our neighbourhood. This is only the second time that I have seen this much snow in Vancouver in the sixteen years I have lived here. The average high at this time of year is about six degrees. Normally we have rain.
The result of all of this is a city that is shut down. The Vancouver Police Department today asked everyone to not travel unless absolutely necessary. Numerous streets are closed. The City of Vancouver is simply unable to cope with this quantity of snow. So this makes for some interesting days.
My wife suggested that we should go into our neighbouring forest and find a hill that she had heard about a few years back. We went for a walk on a path called the Lily of the Valley and found the hill, just off the trail, on the fourth fairway of the golf course that adjoins this forest. It was great fun sledding on our newly discovered hill, under a tree, over a few bumps that had been created by previous sledders.
On the thirty minute walk to and from the hill, along the forest path, we experienced complete silence. Snow dampens all sounds and, being in the forest this stillness was accentuated further. I closed my eyes with my daughter and we could hear the sound of the snowflakes falling on our jackets. Tchk, tchk - a few every second. In the distance a ship's horn blew. There were a few others out in the forest, on cross-country skis, or snowshoes, or on foot as we were (and evidently a few rabbits as well based on the tracks we saw).
We got home and my wife commented on how it felt like we were in a chalet after having spent the day in the woods up north. No, we were in our city of two million. Not bad at all.
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