BAK

The first real snow arrived in Oakville overnight, piling snow a couple of inches high on tops of branches and roofs.

At sunrise while walking the dog, the peaked rooftops silouetted against the pink sky looked a lot like the snowcapped Rockies, at sunset.

Even the black roof vents reminded me of outcrops of rock, out west.

Forest full of snow, and the dog, in her red snowsuit, loved to run between the trees.

It's time to figure out how to enjoy Canada's winter, no matter where we are.

Victorians can get the camera ready to take tulip and daffodil pictures in February to send to the rest of us.

BAK

icithecat

If I had been carrying my camera today, I could have sent you a shot of Oak leaves being blown horizontally with the rain, while the sun shone.
Yes we had weather today, but it was all beautiful.

mitchdesja

I lived in Oakville a few years in the 80's ; bak, do you live there now, for some reason I thoght you were a montrealer.

BAK

I used to live i the west end of Toronto, but commuted to Montreal for several days most weeks.

My office is int he heart of the entertainment district, but I', rarely there, and, most fo the time, I'm in Oakville.

And I used to have several jobs with a lot of travel pretty much everywhere except the eastern arctic and the Quyebec north shore, and lived in both Calgary and Edmonton.

Today Oakville's snow is mostly gone, and walking with the dog across a soccer field the frozen leaves crunched from being frozen. After 20 minutes of the dog running in the park, we (thehumans) got cold. Dog was warm because of her runing -- she's a very fast Dalmatian -- and her red snowsuit.

And if I got this cold at minus eight, my sympathies go out to the people of the prairies.

BAK

BAK

Cruiseryyc

Hey it's sunny and +4 at the moment in Calgary - don't worry about us.

BAK

The winter I lived in Calgary was great. Snow on Boxing day, and then from then to spring it was warm. I usually left my coat in the car and put it on at the airport when leaving Calgary.

Then I moved to Edmonton, and lerned what cold really is.

The Calgary winter was great, becaue the mountains beckoned almost every weekend, with no snow and ice ont eh drive.

BAK

kodi

BAK, I was up in Haliburton yesterday and the trees were beautiful ..all covered with pure white snow. It truly was like a photo on a Christmas card.

Borealis

Yes, in really cold Edmonton it was +7C yesterday and +4C today. No snow yet (although we did get a few wet flakes on Remembrance Day that vanished within hours).
Lately we have had too much wind, way too much wind!!

But the meteor that everybody except me saw was apparently amazing!!

JudyC

After the rain yesterday, snow is almost completely gone in Oakville. It was qutie windy last nght, huge waves were pounding the shoreline of Lake Ontario whole night last night.

Another one from oakville

knickerbocker

BAK,

I'm just a couple of GO stops east of you and I can tell you that -8°C by the Lake is a lot different than the same out west. I worked in Regina for a couple of years and was astonished to be able to walk out to my car when it was -30°C (and no wind, BTW) and be just fine. But boy oh boy, bring up the wind and you do NOT want to be out in that.

The humidity here's what makes it seem cold.

celticmoon

BAK ~
I was born in Oakville and know and love the town. I especially love walking by Lake Ontario.

You're lucky with no-snow. It snowed here 3 weeks ago and it has continued to snow a bit every day since then and it has really piled up here in Kitchener/Waterloo.
The rural areas around us are pristine, and picture postcard white!

Francine

SusanInToronto

I don't know, Knickerbocker, I went to university in Edmonton in the 70's and lived in Calgary before and after that. Minus 30 is minus 30 - people always say that it's a dry cold, but it's freaking cold whether it's dry or not (Besides all that dryness is terribly aging for your skin!)

knickerbocker

Well susan,

All I can speak from is my experiences. I lost the toss when the Olympic flame was coming through town in '88 and I was on the only overpass anywhere near Regina and it was -30 with a wind that day and that is why I'm an editor today (20C year around).

My experience only; YMMV

BAK

About dry cold, as per Regina and Winnipeg; a dry cold means that there's no coating of ice all over you, to keep the wind from hitting your skin.

And dry cold is sneaky.

A damp cold hits you as soon as you open the door, and you can go back in and add more clothes. Or stay indoors.

A dry cold lets you get a block away before you start to notice you are freezing from the inside out.

And, by now, your brain starts to slow down, making it really hard to decide whether to keep walking toward the restaurant, or retreat and eat in the hotel, or try to flag a cab.

BAK

knickerbocker

You see, BAK, this is why all the westerners think eastern Canadians are wussies.

Borealis

Meanwhile, here in Edmonton, it was +7C on Saturday, +5C yesterday and +7C today. And oh yes - still not a flake of snow.

. . . . I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. . . . .