This isn't the first time we've seen snow. But it's the first time we've had to do our daily activities in snow.
There had been warnings of a snowstorm, Montreal's first of the season, for a few days. Forecasts predicted 15cm of snow that would ultimately stick to the ground and not melt away. The night of the predicted storm, it started snowing lightly and we all went to bed excited about what we might see in the morning.
And the events of the night didn't disappoint us! We woke up to snow-covered everything! But it was raining and in my experience, which is mostly skiing at Perisher or Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, when it rains on snow, the snow disappears and everything turns to watery mush. I can now say that I've experienced rain in the snow and at a constant 1C all day it doesn't in fact disappear, but it does turn a bit mushy!
Here's what was going through my mind on my first day experiencing living in a snowy place.
Here's what was going through my mind on my first day experiencing living in a snowy place.
It's a work day so at around 8am I set off out the front door, carefully down the front steps and out into a world that seems totally foreign but which is completely normal for everyone around me. The front garden is blanketed in a thick layer of snow and looks like it does on the hills driving up from Jindabyne to Perisher when it's been snowing overnight and the sun hasn't had time to melt it yet. We call it a good cover of snow. Here they'd probably call it nothing!
Michael shovels the path and the porch and sprinkles it all with grit. Everything is slushy from the rain mixing with the snow. I imagine this is what it's like in spring when the temperatures start peeping up above zero and the snow starts melting into slush.
Michael shovels the path and the porch and sprinkles it all with grit. Everything is slushy from the rain mixing with the snow. I imagine this is what it's like in spring when the temperatures start peeping up above zero and the snow starts melting into slush.
To get to work I have to catch a metro four stations from Outremont to Cotes-des-Neiges, then a bus to downtown area of Montreal on Avenue Sherbrooke. From there it's a five-minute walk to the building where I work.
I walk to the metro station in Outremont and it's raining so I put up my umbrella, but no one else has one. Everyone is walking through the slushy puddles crossing roads but I go carefully, being careful not to slip. I try to avoid putting my boots in the deep puddles that seem to congregate exactly where pedestrians need to step to cross the road. Pretty soon there's a puddle I can't avoid and sure enough, I now have wet toes. Or just cold ones. I'll have to check when I get to work. I'm glad I brought my spare shoes for wearing in class today!
On the bus it sounds like we're driving through one long endless puddle. I thought we'd go fairly slowly but it's business as usual for the bus driver. I guess they've got at least another four to five months of this. The cars on the road don't slow down either, but I'm somehow less surprised about this. It seems you can rely on Montreal drivers to remain crazy even in increasingly dangerous road conditions.
I'd heard that public transport after a snowstorm can be horrendous with everyone trying to avoid the messy roads. But apart from a more packed bus than usual, it hasn't been too bad. I am a bit later than usual due to the three of us standing in wonder for a few minutes at the front door before I left!
I get off the bus at my stop and continue the joy of jumping puddles. It's tricky. I see people taking a second to judge the best path through the slush and deceptively deep puddles. I do the same. The only time I've done this sort of thing before is in ski boots at the snow. You can walk on anything without fear with those boots. But I've never had to negotiate icy slushy puddles in work clothes before. It's an experience.
On the bus it sounds like we're driving through one long endless puddle. I thought we'd go fairly slowly but it's business as usual for the bus driver. I guess they've got at least another four to five months of this. The cars on the road don't slow down either, but I'm somehow less surprised about this. It seems you can rely on Montreal drivers to remain crazy even in increasingly dangerous road conditions.
I'd heard that public transport after a snowstorm can be horrendous with everyone trying to avoid the messy roads. But apart from a more packed bus than usual, it hasn't been too bad. I am a bit later than usual due to the three of us standing in wonder for a few minutes at the front door before I left!
I get off the bus at my stop and continue the joy of jumping puddles. It's tricky. I see people taking a second to judge the best path through the slush and deceptively deep puddles. I do the same. The only time I've done this sort of thing before is in ski boots at the snow. You can walk on anything without fear with those boots. But I've never had to negotiate icy slushy puddles in work clothes before. It's an experience.
I stop several times to take photos of the snow-covered buildings, stair railings, shrubs and statues. I earn some stares from the locals but I don't care. I'm excited. I say so to one man who sees me taking a photo of the snow on some shrubs by some very Montreal-like steps. He agrees with me, smiling. I think I made his day, or at least passed a bit of my enthusiasm on to him.
I make it to work with time to spare for exchanging commuting tales with my colleagues before we all go to class. I think I'm going to like living my daily life in the snow...for a while!
I make it to work with time to spare for exchanging commuting tales with my colleagues before we all go to class. I think I'm going to like living my daily life in the snow...for a while!
Have you ever lived in a snowy place, living your daily life getting from place to place with snow in the way? What was it like? Did you like it?