HERE WE GO AGAIN!!
by
Alan A Sandercott

It's snowing outside, not the fluffy white stuff dreamt of by skiers and snowmobilers, but the wet sticky kind that sticks to everything. By afternoon the trees are yielding to the sheer weight of snow, power lines are hanging dangerously low and lights begin to flicker.

Then comes that dreaded moment around nine in the evening; the power goes out. Flashlights are retrieved from pre-determined locations and a phone call to BC Hydro confirms we shouldn't anticipate return of power before noon the next day. We have little choice but to settle in for a long night.

Ironically, it's exactly five days earlier than the storm of storms that crippled entire areas on October 27th of last year. Is this going to be another one of those years? What ever happened to my understanding of Global Warming, or is this it?

It's difficult to sleep when all you can think of is the problems associated with power blackouts in winter; falling temperatures, no heat, no water and the trips to the outdoor biffy out of necessity. You're aware of the silence outside, but missing are the eerie sounds of trees breaking and crashing to the ground like in last year's storm.

The Almanac says we're supposed to have a warmer than usual winter with above average precipitation. Sounds exactly like what's happening outside right now. Watching Global TV and listening to the weatherman only worsens things. It's easy to tell he's a biased lower-mainlander when making predictions of an approaching nasty weather system by saying, "Thank goodness it's passing farther north . . . ", meaning the central and northern coast, our doorstep.

Other than my 'bitching', I guess I'll hang in here and endure yet another winter. Being retired, it's easier to put up with impassible roads, seems we in the rural areas are treated like second class citizens when it comes to snow removal, more of my complaint repertoire.

On the brighter side, if there is one, all the downed trees from last year bolstered our woodpile and there's nothing like a roaring fireplace to fend off the cold. While some folks are counting the days untill Christmas, I'm counting the days 'till spring!!