Snow Day!

[A snowman beside the Heathcote River in front of some Cabbage Trees]

A couple weeks ago, while Stephen was still on school holiday it snowed. In Christchurch. Great, big, fat flakes of soft, wet snow. The last time it did this was 1992.

On Sunday night, after a rather nice, but cool day, it started to rain. And then the temperature started to drop. Stephen lit the burner under the bathtub outside and we sat in the steaming hot water while clumsy, wet drops of slushie snow fell on our heads. We watched as the garden slowly became white with the stuff. Once the water had cooled to a tepid body temperature we slip, slided our way across the yard and into our warm beds.

[Smaug preferred looking out at the snow from inside the house - though she did venture out more than once]

At 5am Stephen couldn't handle it any longer, he crawled out of bed and ran to the window to peak outside. The world had become a winter wonderland and the snow was still falling. The thing that got me most was the silence, with no one out driving the night was as quiet as I remember growing up in the Yukon forest. When I eventually emerged from bed at 7am (practically unheard of in this household) there was a fire roaring in the stove and a gorgeous world awaiting outside - just what winter should be for this Canadian. We made up some tasty cinnamon buns and ran outside to play in the snow.

[The backyard filled with snow]

Snowmen, snowballs, and simply walking in the stuff was enough to keep us smiling from ear to ear. We wandered up the quiet road to visit friends and invite them for cinnamon buns. As we wandered back we ran into families sledding down driveways on anything they could get their hands on, boogie boards, plastic bags, and snow boards. Everyone was happy and smiling. It was wonderful.

[Waiting for the bus - which never came]

[Japonica covered in snow]

The snow lasted for another day and a half. In fact, in the dark depths of shaded nooks you can still find clusters of dirty snow hanging on for dear life. But now we are left with only the photos and memories - another "Great Snowfall" for the history books [http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Science/Earth/Weather/Snow/].

[Big Snow - 1945 - Mr Bettle outside his shop in Heathcote Valley. Image take from http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Photos/GimblettCollection/Gimblett-0084.asp]