It's Over

My family in their preferred positions during cold weather.

That's Ethel under the table; Fred is man spreading as usual.

Well thank God that’s over! It’s 4° this morning, the skies are clear and the snow is compacting. Sheba can go outside and come in without snow stuck to her everywhere. I cannot remember ever seeing so much snow in this part of the world. My poor avian friends ate three full helpings of seed and suet yesterday.

All yesterday afternoon it snowed like mad and it was risky to venture outside because the wind blews huge dumps of snow fall from the tall trees, drenching the ground, breaking branches and creating snow drifts two feet deep. Really! I have never seen anything like this. But I my four-legged family and I stayed cozy and warm all day in the house.

The only times I went outside were to fetch wood and put more seed in the bird feeders. It was touching to see the birds stay close as I refilled their feeders. Normally, they fly away, but it was as though they knew I was a friend and they chirped like crazy as the seed poured over the edges and onto the ground where hungry ground feeders went wild.

Mail delivery has been suspended since Tuesday and all the ferries were shut down. Last night, winds were predicted to reach 120 k/hr., but I did not lose power. And I did something smart: For the first time this year, I piles three large pieces of wood into the fireplace before I went to bed and this morning the chimney and the house was nice and warm.

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Change in plans: I’m not going to go through that impossibly long and miserable trip to see Dr. Shoja via the ferries. God bless Harbour Air. They offer a far, far easier trip and the flights are free, thanks to the Medical Services Plan, and only twenty minutes long.

I can take the ferry to Nanaimo as a foot passenger, walk ten minutes to Harbour Air and then take a 20-minute fight to downtown Vancouver. I’m so relieved. My fellow dog walkers will care for Sheba whilst I’m there. 

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The relief I feel is so, so welcome. The storm and the complications of going back to therapy at VGH (it won’t be one appointment) were weighing heavy on me, but everything seems resolved and it’s going to be gloriously sunny—if not for the day, at least for the morning, and sunshine lifts my spirits incredibly. Sheba and I will go for a nice walk today. We are no longer prisoners.