25 Minutes in Good, 2 Hours in Bad...

Winter Wonderland? I wouldn't say so...I actually don't know what I would call the weather the last little while. The other week it was snowing...no raining...no snowing and wait, there was thunder and lightning - when was the last time you witnessed that in the winter?

Yesterday was one of those days everyone dreads and some people will complain about for the next week or so...cars getting stuck, people getting stuck, not getting home from work until it was almost time to go to work again...the list goes on and on. People love to complain about winter in Canada and how they would rather be in sunny Florida or basking in the hot Caribbean sun. While I agree that it is nice to enjoy those vacations while everyone is left in misery at home I have to think that we have it pretty damn good. I mean do you really want to worry about tornados and hurricanes - meeting up with Katrina or Andrew wouldn't have been too pleasant. All in all I'd say we're pretty lucky that we get to enjoy a little bit of all seasons from the vibrant changing leaves in fall and beautiful white layers of snow in winter to blossoms of flowers in spring and hot days of beach volleyball in the summer.

That being said yesterday was truly brutal. I thought I came prepared with my winter jacket and mitts but I was obviously wrong considering I forgot my asian shades to keep the ice from pelleting my face and knee high rubbers to keep my legs dry. Getting to Pape Station was easy but walking up to catch the bus and seeing 200 people waiting for three bus lines that were at least two hours behind wasn't pretty. After standing about 20 minutes I decided to take the leap and start walking, thinking I might be able to hail a cab on the way. The wind was blowing, snow was falling, sidewalks were covered and the streets were quiet except for the cars crawling along. Taxi after taxi went by but never stopped and finally two buses went by jam packed - by this time I was thinking I should just head back to the office and get an early start on Friday. I finally made it to Overlea and Millwood and was able to hop on a bus for the 10 more minutes home. I don't know why I did - I was almost home and should have kept walking since the bus went so slow. But, it was nice to get out of the wind and get warm - luckily it wasn't -10 degrees (I actually had my jacket part way undone as I was walking).

Yes, this will be a day I talk about for the next little while, not because I want to complain but more because I think it was crazy and a good story. It also reminds me that I should have a decent pair of winter boots...I mean, it's not like we do live in California.