snow, snow, go away....

It occurred to me this morning as I was shoveling the driveway that no one has ever written a song, that I know of, about snow going away. On a day like today when the sun is glorious and beautiful the snow doesn't seem that bad, even after a day like yesterday of hours of driving, pelting snow.

And when you see a snow sculpture like this just down the street the magic of snow is very real.

But when it continues to come pouring down almost daily and you see it piled in heaps everywhere one begins to wonder when and if it will ever stop and the beauty of it definitely gets lost.



Awhile back I wrote about the impending flood. Every time it snows the possibility of a disastrous flood becomes more and more a reality.
There was an entire page in the Winnipeg Free Press this week devoted to flood measures that are being planned and some already being carried out. Winnipegers are being called on - each and every able-bodied person who lives in Winnipeg - to be ready to help with the flood in one way or another. Homeowners who have river front properties are being cautioned about taking holidays away from their homes in the spring. Even though there is a massive water diversion canal around Winnipeg there are still serious concerns.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am wondering where all this snow is going to go once the melt begins. We will think of that another day, I know that for sure, but for now the sun is gorgeous, the sky is clear and it's a good day.

ice fog, subbing and canada's oldest supercentenarian

I was scheduled to sub music at my favourite school for four days. I subbed yesterday but this morning I woke up to extreme ice fog. School is cancelled for today which has given me a day to catch up on my life a bit.

Yesterday one of the students, a little girl in grade 3, came to me to tell me that her great grandma had died. She went on to say that she had been the oldest person in Canada until she died on Sunday. I was pretty amazed but wondered about the source of this rather incredible report. She said she would have been 112 in February. Hmmm. Well, this morning I was scanning the news headlines and saw this one: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/manitoba-woman-believed-oldest-canada-dies-just-shy-20110125-093301-120.html Who am I to question the credibility of an 8-year-old?!

Tomorrow is winter fun day at "my school" and I'll be subbing at the crazy carpet run for the entire day. I'm praying for more fog! :)

across the prairies

So what is it like to drive 9 hours across the Canadian prairies in the winter? Well.... it can look like this at times - or worse...

...or it can look like this - a gloriously sunny day so bright you can hardly see!

In both cases the road can literally stretch on for hours without a curve in sight.

Our purpose for the road trip across the prairies was to represent our mission at a missions conference at a small bible school in southern Saskatchewan. This was a completely new venture for us and I think it went quite well.

We had quite a few inquiries at our "desk" for different opportunities in the mission and we met a ton of people and made all sorts of new connections with people we'd never met but who knew people that we knew. Of course. :)
It was a good and positive weekend.

hoarfrost

Conditions were perfect last Sunday for an amazing dusting of hoarfrost. Absolutely beautiful.

the hockey players

We have two nephews, brothers, who are extremely good hockey players. They play in the high school hockey league in southern Manitoba. We went to see them play last Friday night. It was a great game. Tristan, a forward, got two points, one goal and one assist, and Carson, the goalie, saved 18 shots. We figure that Tristan got at least 15 of the 44 shots that their team had on net. He is one amazing skater and goal scorer. He scores at least 1 goal every game and Carson has just received his "AP papers" from a Junior Hockey team which means that he could be called to play goal if the team's other goalies are not able to play.

I'm not too great at action shots, especially when I'm visiting with the person beside me, but I did get a few shots of the boys on the ice at least!
We're pretty proud of these boys!

katy's been busy

Katy painted this lovely picture over the break. It took her several days to finish but we think she's done an amazing job! She painted it for the art auction that will be held at Providence College's "Missio Dei" missions conference. The missions committee (of which both Beth and Katy are a part of) hopes to raise a good amount of money to put toward a special project. Last year they raised over $800 for Invisible Children. This art auction initiative was Bethany's idea when she was on the missions committee last year. The students were thrilled with the results and are hoping for an even better return this year so if you're in the area come out and help them raise money!