Friday, December 08, 2006

I'm dreaming of a snowplowed Christmas

So last night, while I was out for a work function, one of my coworkers told me that our boss had gotten stuck in the snow in Woodstock. He was at a standstill in what he called "the parking lot on the highway". Which of course made me laugh because he's from Northern Ontario, where it snows all the time. Then I spoke with my sister this morning, prior to my departure and she told me she needed an hour and a half to make the 30 minute trip home from work last night. Then I read the paper which told the story of a 10 car pile up due to the weather. And then I check the radar image. And really, I wish I had copied it because it would have been funny to show. You see, there's the image of the south western region of the province with about six big circles going out of the centre. And within four of those circles was a huge mass of blue. With lots of yellow and green in the middle. And in the yellow and green? About 2 cm of snow an hour.

I didn't really believe it. After all, it was bright, sunny, and cloudless in Windsor. And while we got a slight dusting, it was really just cold. I've seen the snow in London as a child and we haven't really had a huge snow storm in a few years. My sister said to me, "remember that Christmas Eve where you couldn't get out your front door two years ago? This was worse."






Various photos taken in London this morning. Apparently it shut down the entire city. Even buses were cancelled. And that means CITY buses. Which haven't shut down in over thirty years. Cars had been abandoned in the middle of streets. It was like the apocolypse. Except with SNOW.

But I made it safely. No real problem until about Highbury Avenue where the far lane was covered in snow and there was no way anyone was driving in it (including me, who has suddenly found her fear from her wipe out last winter in a farmers field) which made driving difficult. Added to that, I had to endure the snow packed highway in to my sisters town. Which was equally unpleasant due to the car in front of me who kept braking quickly and no matter how far back I stayed, I always ended up having to brake as well and worrying I was going to spin out again.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas indeed.

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