Barbedwire Jaguar (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} acierocolotl) wrote,@ 2008-03-13 23:37:00 |
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Wintry Storm '08 pics
Early this week, this entire region was buried under a half-meter of snow, adding to the profuse abundance we already had.
Ever get lost in the "romance" of winter? I can see where you're coming from sometimes; some of this is really pretty. Seriously, check this out, these are all from my walk to and from work that day.
This is the Ottawa River, and you can kind of vaguely see Parliament over there. The river itself never really freezes because it's so turbulent; somewhat behind the camera lies a hydro dam. On the right side of the picture is Victoria Island. To the bottom leftish, you might get a faint idea how much snow there really is.
On the other side of Victoria Island, you can see things better. It's a little valley down there, sheltered by the island to one side and hillocks to the other, and some intrepid soul decided to go snowshoeing. It would have been nigh-impossible to walk down there without the snowshoes, not without a spot of tunnelling.
This might give you a better perspective on the snow. The canyons are taller than that car in most places. The sidewalk snowploughs just sort of cut a chasm through the stuff. There's a drawback to all of this, of course:
The drawback? That's this. Can you imagine having to shovel this stuff out? It wasn't the lightest of snows by any means. Not the worst, not that heavy, sodden stuff which sticks to everything like celestial peanutbutter, but not that far off either. Geezers die of heart attacks moving that stuff around.
There's some kind of advantages--of a sort--mind you. I call it "snow geology". When the ploughs cut through, you can see the individual layers. "As we can see here, the 10 o'clock layer featured heavy traffic..."
Traffic. That, more than anything else--yes, even more than the miserable, fucking cold--takes the romance out of winter. Cars are filthy things, and you can really appreciate just how filthy they are by how pristine white stuff can get turned into brown, sodden spray which gets shot everywhere.
This is a very mild amount of slushy contamination. Fiercer slushes have been known to dissolve metal and leather, and are a convenient way to dispose of bodies. This slush was relatively benign and I was not afraid to pose with my foot nearby. Is my shoe not sexy? It is okay to lust after me for my shoe. I understand.
Not everything gets ploughed, mind you! This can result in wacky mini-mountain climbing adventures just to cross streets. You might think you see a cyclist in this photograph, but you would be mislead. That's a convict. We don't need capital punishment; we make them ride bikes in the winter and the survivors are very duly chastised.
Such fun and merriment traffic brings! A liberal spray of slush can turn a pristine, solid path (as seen near the top of the photo) into a sodden, disgusting toxic waste pit fit only as watering holes for hated dogs. Think of how great it is: You can get soakers, and then freeze them up on the snow!
I hope this gives you a little perspective on winter.
Early this week, this entire region was buried under a half-meter of snow, adding to the profuse abundance we already had.
Ever get lost in the "romance" of winter? I can see where you're coming from sometimes; some of this is really pretty. Seriously, check this out, these are all from my walk to and from work that day.
This is the Ottawa River, and you can kind of vaguely see Parliament over there. The river itself never really freezes because it's so turbulent; somewhat behind the camera lies a hydro dam. On the right side of the picture is Victoria Island. To the bottom leftish, you might get a faint idea how much snow there really is.
On the other side of Victoria Island, you can see things better. It's a little valley down there, sheltered by the island to one side and hillocks to the other, and some intrepid soul decided to go snowshoeing. It would have been nigh-impossible to walk down there without the snowshoes, not without a spot of tunnelling.
This might give you a better perspective on the snow. The canyons are taller than that car in most places. The sidewalk snowploughs just sort of cut a chasm through the stuff. There's a drawback to all of this, of course:
The drawback? That's this. Can you imagine having to shovel this stuff out? It wasn't the lightest of snows by any means. Not the worst, not that heavy, sodden stuff which sticks to everything like celestial peanutbutter, but not that far off either. Geezers die of heart attacks moving that stuff around.
There's some kind of advantages--of a sort--mind you. I call it "snow geology". When the ploughs cut through, you can see the individual layers. "As we can see here, the 10 o'clock layer featured heavy traffic..."
Traffic. That, more than anything else--yes, even more than the miserable, fucking cold--takes the romance out of winter. Cars are filthy things, and you can really appreciate just how filthy they are by how pristine white stuff can get turned into brown, sodden spray which gets shot everywhere.
This is a very mild amount of slushy contamination. Fiercer slushes have been known to dissolve metal and leather, and are a convenient way to dispose of bodies. This slush was relatively benign and I was not afraid to pose with my foot nearby. Is my shoe not sexy? It is okay to lust after me for my shoe. I understand.
Not everything gets ploughed, mind you! This can result in wacky mini-mountain climbing adventures just to cross streets. You might think you see a cyclist in this photograph, but you would be mislead. That's a convict. We don't need capital punishment; we make them ride bikes in the winter and the survivors are very duly chastised.
Such fun and merriment traffic brings! A liberal spray of slush can turn a pristine, solid path (as seen near the top of the photo) into a sodden, disgusting toxic waste pit fit only as watering holes for hated dogs. Think of how great it is: You can get soakers, and then freeze them up on the snow!
I hope this gives you a little perspective on winter.
