There is a sentiment within me that swells when there is the prospect of snow. Then quickly I suppress such, for the adult portion of my brain recognizes the stress and hassle that necessarily accompany a blizzard in the south. Yet still! Snow in south Texas, who would have thought? I imagine that someday I shall tell my children of the day I survived the great blizzard of ’25. Rewind that. I sound like an old person already. Of course, if I want to avoid sounding like someone who has lived through far too many winters, I should probably also cease from using phrases that refer to ancient video technology. Back to the snow. Shall we indeed be so blessed with a wintry wonderland? Perhaps. We’ll wake up in a few days and I shall do something I’ve not done in years – peek out the window in the early morning hours to see if there indeed is a white blanket over all. And you can bet I’ll then gulp down some coffee and put on my hiking boots and wool coat and warm hat and gloves and tramp out down the lane to feel the fresh fallen snow underneath my feet and marvel at the beauty that is upon us. Of course it is hard to fully enjoy this thought when I also worry in the fullness of my grown mind of the effects of such an unusual storm upon this land. We do poorly enough with hurricanes and heat waves – how shall this city’s creaking infrastructure stand up to such as the icy blast that in providence descends upon us? The city planners and power providers assure us that the grid is hardened and prepared. One way to find out, eh? At the end of the day I wait and pray for I know these crazy weather patterns are overseen and held together by one who is far more powerful than I. I still hope to see a little bit of snow a few mornings from now. And hope the lights don’t flicker so I can enjoy my hot coffee in peace as I look out upon a winter scene. Even so I sit in silence now grateful for such little things as running water and steady heat. I pull up my turtleneck a little higher and snuggle into my favourite couch. Time to hunker down now and ride this thing out.
Tag: snow
White and Grey and Love Unbounded
Happy Saturday friends!!! I have but a few minutes before I need to start getting ready for wedding, but…thought I could write a few words! I’m currently here in the Frozen North, which deserves its capital letters because it truly is Frozen up here in Calgary right now. -17 F(-27 C) and snow flakes slowly whirl past the window of my hotel room…
Of course you may ask – why am I in Canada right now? Well…Robbie is getting married!!! Such a dear friend, even though I haven’t been able to hang out with him as much as I wish I could. But we’ve had many adventures – from Isle of Man to Boston to Vancouver! And now…he’s beginning one of the biggest adventures of all…marriage to his soon-to-be wife, Natasha. So I shall soon witness this glorious wedding and it shall be wonderful indeed! And while I rejoice with Robbie and Natasha…I do look forward to the day that shall be more glorious than all others – that day when we shall sit down at the wedding supper of the Lamb. Oh for that beautiful day!! Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
And now…I suppose I should start getting dressed for wedding. Had a nice little breakfast here in hotel, and then because I was tired of staying indoors, braved the wintry blast of outside and walked down to Tim Hortons and got a nice yummy chocolate donut and blissfully hot coffee. Mmm so good. Now in my hotel room warming my toes and enjoying looking out at the white blanket upon this city of Calgary. Frozen outside and warm and cozy inside. This world so often seems cold and dark…remember the light and rejoice in the love of our God.
Peace and love.
Dashing
Well. I did not quite believe the forecasts but they proved to be right for once. And so I stepped out of my door this morning to be confronted with the almost-forgotten sight of snow on the ground. It has been a while, dear friend. And I did not expect to see a blanket of nice clean snow o’er top the city of Houston this morning, but there you go.
I have to say, it was a bit disconcerting(but wonderful!) driving around this morning. Driving to work in snow is a very normal occurrence in Scotland but not so here. So I felt as if I was in Aberdeen again for a bit, seeing the frosted tree tops and white roadsides flash by as I drove in. Of course, the (relatively) small bit of snow we got here is as nothing compared to a good Scottish winter. Although I was amused by one of the road-signs this morning: “ICY CONDITIONS. SNOW EXISTS. DRIVE WITH CAUTION.” Oh Houston. And yes, people in Houston really don’t understand snow. I was driving behind one person who had a blanket of snow entirely covering their rear windscreen. Um? Guess they didn’t feel like wiping it off before driving?? I put a good distance between them and I!!
Still – as fun as a small bit of snow is here…it’s nothing compared to driving in blizzard conditions down the A90. I don’t know if I miss that or not. Right now, yes. But if I was back in Scotland, I’d say no and that all snow should go away. Even though on a proper day – snow is wonderful. John texted me this morning from Aberdeen and notified me that it had snowed there too overnight! He sent me some pics from Calsayseat…scenes I’d seen many times before – grey and white everywhere. He also reminded me of our fun sledging adventure…sadly, that is almost impossible here in Houston – firstly, not enough snow. Secondly, not enough hills(or any?). I do miss John and wish we could recreate our winter fun day again!!
Also been texting with Chris – and since he and Jo and Lily are now in the south of England, it is warmer there than it is here. Definitely no snow there! I take some pride in the fact that it’s colder here. I also would be proud that as I was out and about this morning, I didn’t feel cold at all – didn’t even have my good wool coat(my “Scotland” coat as I like to think of it) zippered up. But I cannot take pride because I know the secret to staying warm – it is wearing long underwear. And since I’m wearing that, I can’t boast in my cold tolerance. But I can say I am very toasty and it is wonderful to be nice and warm inside when it’s so briskly cold outside!! Oh and of course, I got my peppermint mocha this morning and I can say that for once it’s very proper to get this drink since there is actual snow on the ground – and what drink goes better with snow than a peppermint mocha? Well, maybe a peppermint hot chocolate but it is early and caffeine. Y’know. Also saw Katie at Starbucks and she was super excited about the snow here too!! It is so fun how the snow puts us all in such good moods here in Houston…
Just one more note on the snow since I can and since it will melt soon and since we probably won’t get snow here in Houston for another eight years…so I must take advantage of it. The sight of snow really does cause so many Scotland memories to come flooding back…so many times walking into town with the crunch of snow underneath my boots and flurries of snow past my ears. Good memories because they’re associated with good friends and God’s goodness to me. Abounding in faithfulness, always.
Farewell, dear friends – peace and love and warmth and joy!
Raging starfire
So, at work a bit early this morning…despite the continued onslaught of snow against my fair city of Aberdeen! I woke up this morning and looked outside to see that not too much snow had fallen during the night. Relieved, I went to make my coffee and sandwiches and then sat down and read for a while. Before I left my flat, I looked outside again…to see it snowing furiously outside, with an additional few inches of snow on the ground!! Knowing that every second I delayed inside would mean more snow on the roads, I hurried outside to my car, quickly warming it up and scraping it off before undertaking the treacherous six mile journey in to work(which took an hour last night, ugh). You may ask why I’d drive to work in the snow, with a very reasonable probability of not being able to get back home tonight? Well honestly, I don’t know either. But driving convoy style on the dual carriageway(er, that’d be highway for us Americans), we all made it through the snow safely, each of us following through the tire tracks of the car before. And by the way, Rhapsody of Fire is pretty much the most intensely awesome music to listen to while driving through the snow, just saying. “The embrace of ice and snow could stop the bravest warrior, but the thirst for justice still and more will warm our soul.” What now?!! Finally made it in to work just to find that the lights were off in our Drilling office…yes, I was the first one in. That did give me just a bit of pride at first, being the Floridian and all in the land of Scotland, before I realized it might just mean that I was the only one silly enough daring to brave the snow. I’ve sat here for a while now, sipping my hazelnut-tinged coffee(props to Deanna for bringing over wondrous proper American coffee creamer from the States!!! You will be my bestest friend forever and ever for that, Deanna. Mmmmmm…and now you all know the way to my heart. Oops) and writing this snow filled entry.
And now, there are actually people in the office besides me and it’s about time for work to begin. Have a lovely day!! Hopefully there’s far less snow wherever you all are at..
Oh and I really will end this entry after this sentence, but Romans 8 is awesome, y’all; you should read it right now, that’s how awesome it is(I have been abundantly reminded of the glorious love of God our Father and of Jesus Christ our Saviour and of the Spirit our Comforter these past few days through this chapter) and I would be negligent indeed to not point you all to such an amazing wealth of words and storehouse of grace and fountain of truth that is contained therein.
Snowglobe
I don’t quite know why I’m posting twice in one day, but it is lunchtime and I’m enjoying a nice lunch of cheese sandwiches and chips(that’s fries to you people back home!). Nice hot chips with salt and vinegar, mmm…
Ok, maybe that’s the purpose of my post, to make you all hungry. Because I don’t really have anything else to say…other than that it is STILL SNOWING. It looks like a violently shaken snowglobe outside. At this rate, we’ll be buried by Christmas. Of course, I’ll in Florida for Christmas(hurrah!!) where it’s nice and warm and sunny. Yes. The only good thing about the snow is that I’ve not yet gotten stuck again like my adventure on Saturday night…and that it’s not really that cold yet. Only about 5 below(23 degrees or so, for all you back home).
And now, I think I will enjoy the rest of my lunch before my chips go cold. To everyone now waking up in the States, g’morning! Have an absolutely lovely day!!
Honey in the tea
Ok, well remember my last entry how I said how I loved the snow, but was sure I’d get sick of it someday? Well, that may not have been yesterday. But it IS THIS DAY. I want it to GO AWAY right now. And actually it is quite lovely outside, now that I’m inside my nice warm cozy flat! Had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner(YES) at Rosemary’s tonight – me and Uche picked up Aiysha on the way…after being quite lost, finally made it to Rosemary’s – mmm, delicious roast turkey and potatoes and vegetables and yorkshire puddings and stuffing(made by yours truly)….oh yes. But, as always, the best part was just chilling with good friends and talking and talking and talking…
Of course eventually we had to go home. But upon walking out of Rosemary’s flat, we found out that it was snowing. A LOT. Our car already had about 3-4 inches piled on it. Yeah. After warming up the car, we made our way slowly down the road…successfully dropping off Aiysha before we got to very treacherous grounds. Cars were stopped and we were stuck and it was not nice at all. Some awesome guys helped Uche push our car a ways and another cool guy shoveled out the snow that was accumulating in front of my tires. My nice little Peugeot is most definitely *not* made for snow. Eventually we got mostly unstuck…and then made it home following in the tracks of a big car(I may or may not have gone through a couple reds to stay on his tail and not get permanently frozen in the middle of Anderson Drive). And eventually, after much much prayer and Uche’s encouragement, we made it home and swung into Headland Ct and pulled straight into an open parking space in front of our flat. Oh, all praise to the Lord!!!!!!! And so now, dear snow, I would really like it if you stayed away while I need to drive. Please?
Also, walking to church tomorrow will be fun. Truly! Walking in snow, I do not mind(I do sort of need better boots though..) It’s the driving and being totally stuck that is not so much fun. Grr.
But now, nice hot tea and book…mmm, yes.
And it comes down
Driving home today in lovely snowfall, I couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the white blankets of snow gently draping roads, grass and buildings alike. Oh I’m sure that someday(probably soon) I’ll be tired of the snow and ready for it to go away. But it is not this day!! So beautiful and clean and fine, powdered sugar on the grass, and the crunch of my boots in the unspoiled snow, and now the trees gracefully hold up the snow to frame the cloudy sky, that sky both tempestuous and amazingly gorgeous, snow pouring forth from the storehouses of heaven. Beauty.
Oh and for some reason, catching a snowflake on my tongue never seems to lose its wonder.
Tonight(after I finish my yummy shepherd’s pie and take a nap because I am exhausted, yo), I’ll be walking downtown to Aiysha’s birthday party – it will be a sweet snow walking adventure, I so declare!
Now to finish dinner(hmm, why has writing distracted me from food? That seems wrong somehow). Peace!
Something Weird 