ਬਰਫ਼ ਹੀ ਪੈ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ!

Whee snow! It was flying horizontal outside my window when I woke up this morning. The winds had sculpted fantastic drifts with the shapes of buttes along the walk. I was feeling sorry for the shovelers until I ran into Four-Fingered Ned, and he told me, "It's the light kind of snow that makes you feel really strong!"

In other Beautiful Nature news, I had just sat myself down for lunch yesterday when a flock of Canada geese descended onto the lagoon. The view from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the cafe was magnificent, but I seemed to be the only one there who noticed it. They were flying into the wind, so it looked like their descent was in slow motion.

I was describing the scene to a co-worker about that a few moments later and he said, "I wonder if they do that on purpose. Guys, this is so cool!". He confessed that he could watch flocks of pigeons banking in the sky for an hour. How do they know when to make those sharp turns? If you watch, it's not the same birds at the front of the flock all the time. How do they know who to follow?

ਬਰਫ਼ ਅਜੇ ਹੀ ਪੈ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ!

So yesterday, while strolling back with my colleague Mr Smith, I remarked that I was planning on taking a long lunch the next day in order to enjoy the snowscape by the Lake. Today, as I walked over to the cafe for lunch, I had second thoughts. But then I considered that the wind was northwesterly, so with an abbreviated route I could have it always at my back. Along the shore, that is; I could turn in in the shelter of some buildings and those should shield me well enough until I get closer to work. Plus there would be no one else out to spoil my stroll.

With that in mind, I started to get bundled up. Then I noticed a flock of seagulls struggling to take off at the very spot where I was to begin my walk. The first one I focused on would take, fight to rise vertically, and then get blown back down to the ground. Others--facing the direction of my intended route--were getting blown several metres backwards before getting near the ground and attempting to fly again.

Tomorrow for sure!

On my way back into the building through the rear door, I saw a trucker snap off his rear-view trying to back into the loading dock. At the same time, he managed to block my access to the rear stairs. I pointed this out to him as he was picking up the broken pieces of the mirror, and he pulled out. I must be his favourite person in the world right now.