Fluffy Snow

I like this part of winter, when snow is still a novelty and the roads aren't yet lined with greasy, blackened snowbanks.  I actually enjoy bundling up and going out for a walk  in the fresh, chill air. 

Ken does not share my enthusiasm for winter's wonderland.  We went out to get a little exercise yesterday, but found that we couldn't walk very fast or very far because the sidewalks and side streets were coated with intermittent slicks of ice.  I didn't mind taking baby steps across the frozen patches, and was enjoying the damp, cool wind on my face after hours of hanging around inside.  Ken was miserable.

This morning I had my first taste of a winter commute.  After listening to the satisfying sounds of the condo complex maintenance crew clearing the snow from my walk (I swear I'll never stop appreciating the absence of shovelling in my current lifestyle), I set out to the bus stop at the usual time - and got to work 20 minutes late.  For the past four years I have been able to walk all the way to work.  Snow didn't slow me down much.  Now I'm dependent on the vagaries of traffic.  My 10 minute bus time multiplied by a factor of three.  I hope it's not like that every time it snows.

And yet, despite the inconvenience, I managed to enjoy the ride.  I watched soft, puffy snowflakes drift down onto the bungalow rooftops and evergreen trees.  By the time I alighted from the bus for the second leg of my walk to work, the flakes were so large that it was as if it were snowing little fluffy white kittens and bunnies.  From now on, I hope all of you will work with me to introduce this new phrase into common usage, i.e. "It's snowing kitties and bunnies out there."  Hey, it makes way more sense than "It's raining cats and dogs."  When have you ever seen a cat or dog that resembles a large droplet of water?