it snowed here

Here being Baltimore.  I knew it was coming, and it did.  Not lots of it, but enough to cause difficulties for travelers into the area as well as forcing the conference to shut down an offsite activity that I was supposed to do this morning.  Ah well.  That gave me ample opportunity to catch up with friends, which was very welcome.

I was awake just before 7, which was unkind given my late night from being on Pacific Time.  Ah well.  I could tell that there had been snow, and snow was still falling. 

This continued on late into the morning and early afternoon. 

By now, though, it's stopped, and I can see the city south of me a little more clearly.  I don't think we're due for more snow on this trip, which is good since I want to avoid clomping around in boots if I can.

Wait, hold on, is that a glimpse of blue sky?

back in the air

Boxing Day.  23 days ago.  That was the last time I was on a plane, the last time I was at LAX. 

It won't be as big a year for travel this year, and although I think that is a good thing, part of me really enjoys a busy schedule of travel, I cannot lie.

It's conference time for me this weekend.  I was in the United Club this morning well in time for a bite to eat before my flight.  Once boarded,

we were on our way on time.  Phew!  Time passed, I listened to music and watched some Letterkenny, and Bob's your uncle:  Chicago.

Bloody cold out there, right?

I miss Chicago.

I'm in the United Club in the C concourse at ORD right now.  Boarding in about 35 minutes.  Baltimore by bedtime.  A long day.

And yet, yes, I have missed this, I admit.

Little Bay de Noc

It's a gloomy Friday before Christmas in this little nook of the UP.  Damp out, above freezing.  There is a fog on Little Bay de Noc, and when I look out from the hotel room, I can't see the Stonington Peninsula across from us (and not all that far) clearly.  If I joked in an early entry about the bleak midwinter, well, this feels even moreso.  Broken ice on the lake near shore.  A bare tree.  A good afternoon to stay inside, cozy.

the bleak midwinter

I think some people looked at us a little askance because we were going to Sweden at midwinter.  Not above the Arctic Circle, but almost as far north as I’ve ever been (my personal record is a point on the Sweden-Norway border).  Short days, cold weather, snow.

I joke with the title of this blog entry.  I don’t find it bleak seeing a northern countryside in winter.  And I love the Christmas carol the blog entry title references.  No, I loved seeing the snow and the low sun and all.  I wish I had had more time to enjoy it.  It’s such a great change from California.  The grass is always greener?  Or perhaps the snow is whiter?

I have hours yet to kill at Heathrow, so let me post some winter photos from in and around Alfta and Bollnäs.  I cannot overstate how very beautiful I think Sweden is in all seasons, and what a treat it is to have now made four trips there in my lifetime.

winter arrives

It's been a funny season here in Chicago. I think we may have dipped below freezing this close to the lake once before Christmas. Perhaps twice. On the other hand, so far this winter ("winter"?) we've had multiple days reaching well into the 40s and even the 50s. That's the 10+ range for my friends in Canada. That's not winter.

I think, however, winter arrived today. For how long, I'm not sure (and I'm already escaping it with a week in Dallas ahead), but by gosh, we're getting some snow. Oh, nowhere near the Snowmageddon (Snowpocalypse?) of almost a year ago, but the ground is getting covered now, ad it's clearly not the quasi-spring day we were having only a few days ago. Time to get the boots on!



When the big snow hit in February, I had the great timing of having planned to work at home. Winter hits today, and here I am, working on a book chapter at home. I haven't been out of the building since 10:35ish this morning, not long after the snow had started and the neighbourhood was only lightly dusted, and even then it was only a jaunt to Starbucks for decaf latte #2.

wedding planning

I don't think it's a secret anymore. It shouldn't be. Conrad and I are getting married here in Vancouver next autumn. For some months now it's been a lot of fun conversations about favours for the guests or which of the 17 or so possibilities we should nail down for our honeymoon. And yes, we still have those conversations. But ladies and gentlemen, we now have to get serious about things, and we have to start making arrangements.

We actually nailed down the venue and caterer back in January. Yes, we plan that far in advance. Now to get more vendors in place. And so it is that we've skipped USian Thanksgiving in order to come up to Vancouver and meet with a number of people.

A busy week for us, then. Happily, as I write this on a grey Friday morning, sitting with coffee and breakfast at Safari Cafe (sooooo glad to be back here!), I can report that we have no other meetings this week, just some Christmas shopping (we've been doing that already this week)(that coat is Conrad's gift to me!), tree trimming, visits with a couple more friends, and then a flight home. Which is just as well - I loathe simple-minded jokes about how cold Canada must be given how mild Vancouver (and other parts of BC) is by comparison to where we currently live, but this week's unusual snow and cold in Vancouver has not been welcome!



Back to Chicago Sunday, and decisions to be made soon after. I won't let this become a wedding planning blog, but do not be surprised if you hear an occasional outburst from me on the topic.

More photos from this trip on Flickr!

Brian is right

Brian is right: returning to winter in Chicago tomorrow will suck. Sorry. Strong words, I know. While I await boil-in-the-bag dinner's from ViJ's to finish cooking up, and before I open the lovely BC Pinot Noir we have to go along, I just have to sort of rub it in and sort of moan and grown wistfully that I'll be leaving this behind:

Sunshine, cherry trees (and other trees and bushes and bulbs) all in bloom.

Darn vacation, ending. Must. Win. Lottery.

those harsh Canadian winters

So, my American friends, tell me again all those great jokes about snowshoes and igloos and dogsleds in abundance once you cross the border. Yes, it surely MUST be cold where I come from. I mean, gosh, there are barely any flowers in bloom
or buds on trees here in Vancouver.
Bitter conditions indeed.

;-)

In fact, the snow on Cypress Mountain has been an issue. Me? I'm not so concerned as I've been able to roam the city in a handsome new sweater with a scarf draped on merely for effect. Vain creature that I am, I did think it an absolutely perfect spring day out there.

Oh, and to my friends in Baltimore, DC, and nearby: in now way am I trying to rub in how hard a winter you've had, I promise. Just exulting in the lovely sunny Sunday it turned out to be here is all...

winter frickin' wonderland

Yes, yes, yes: I know that it IS only February. Still, I'm spoiled by the blooms I saw in BC just two weeks ago - was it only two weeks ago?



I am not pleased. Make it go away.



37 more days until New Zealand. [deep breath]
37 more days until New Zealand. [deep breath]
37 more days until New Zealand. [deep breath]

HA!

To all my friends in the wintry middle of the US (and all other points US that have snow covering the ground) who thinks it's SOOOOO funny to bug me about things in Canada being so much colder, more Arctic, I offer you these photos from this afternoon (in early February) on the coast north of Vancouver.








I also offer you this gentle advice: suck it!

;-)

snowy UP weekend

There's not really much to be said about this. Shall I borrow (sacrilegiously) from Christina G. Rossetti? Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow. All through this Saturday, in fact, it has been coming down. The speed and intensity varies, but the drifts and piles grow.

It can be very pretty, though. On our driving around the Upper Peninsula this weekend, we've taken a few shots: in Escanaba and other communities, in the countryside where trees and farms jostle for space along the roadsides.








Sunday morning now as I continue this post. I was up at a not-too-early time, but still early enough to catch the sunrise on the way over to a coffee shop here in Escanaba. Along the way, I took more photos. The snow must have stopped sometime not long after we got home from dinner last night, judging by the accumulation atop the car. Very powdery snow blanketing the town, sparkly in the sunlight. No wind this morning either, so it made for a lovely walk.