According to the City of Vancouver website, “Vancouver has a moderate, oceanic climate. Protected by the mountains and warmed by the Pacific ocean currents, Vancouver is one of the warmest cities in Canada.” That’s why there are signs of Spring around us, like the buds on the tree outside my office window. Apparently, the cherry blossoms that show briefly and beautifully here are already blooming in the West End of the City.

You may, however, notice the distinctly white colouring at the edge of the road. That’s right… the Arctic air has moved in and so has the snow! My son called to be picked up from a concert on Saturday night and I blithely said, “Be there in a few minutes!”, only to find this scene outside my door!

Bear in mind that this is unusual for us… I don’t even have snow tires. Luckily, I did learn to drive in Toronto and know that “slow and steady” is the way to go. I made it there and back in one piece, but we saw some cars fish-tailing on the major route and others abandoned by the side of the road. Drivers here are just not used to it — and there are a limited number of plows and salt-trucks. I actually just heard that someone at work was hit by a car today while crossing a main intersection in the snow — luckily he is okay. But a lot of drivers here really don’t know what to do…

We’ve actually had a lot of unsettled weather over the last month. Sometimes we will have heavy snow, pouring rain, and brilliant sunshine all over the course of a day. One day last week, the clouds looked so unusual that people were all around snapping pictures. Here is the change in the sky over a 17 minute period…

Today’s evening walk with the dog, while cold, was really nice. The snow absorbed even the sound of my footfalls, and there was a sense of peaceful quiet. And on a sunny morning after a snowfall, I can look up and see the blue sky through the snow covering our skylight…

We are apparently in for more snow on Friday — although just as I went to take a screen shot, they downgraded the forecast from 5-10 cm to ~5 cm! (Phew!) At the same time, though, we will also be combating high pollen counts! Winter and Spring at the same time? I’m so confused!