Snow Day

Snow outlining bare trees this morning

This morning we woke up to... snow! The first snowfall this winter... and on Groundhog Day no less.

The snow was coming down fast and accumulating 20cm by the time we suited ourselves up to shovel the white stuff from our sidewalks and walkways. 

Children sledding down the hill in a park

My favourite snow period is when there is fresh virgin snow in the ground and it hasn't been touched by anyone and it's so tranquil. 

After lunch I took a stroll outside and was thrilled to see blue skies, and snow was falling off trees and bushes so the landscape wasn't so... white.

Some sidewalks were cleared, and others were not. From far away I could see lots of people and heard shouts and screams, having fun at Camosun Park, and came closer to take a look.

Parents stood around while their kids used sleds and plastic toboggans to slide down the hill. They sounded exhilarated as they slid down in mere seconds, and didn't mind having to hike back up just to slid down again minutes later.

It reminded me of when we were kids and went to the nearest hill with a plastic bag to slide on -- no need for a fancy sled. 

On the way home I noticed a perfectly formed duck made from snow that was on the ground. I had seen this in a video from China, where you can purchase plastic yellow tongs in the shape of a duck and make... snow duckies.

A snow duck on the sidewalk

I spied another one, so it wasn't a fluke, and then saw an Asian girl with the aforementioned tongs with her boyfriend as she made the snow ducks as they walked and placed them on a pylon or on the sidewalk.

Mystery solved.

There was some snowfall later in the afternoon which covered up our shovelling efforts; we will be back at it again tomorrow...