While at Acadia University I lived on a floor that contained a fair number of students from the Bahamas. One thing I remember about each of them is their preconceived notions of snow and how quickly this changed after a good Canadian snowfall.
By my second year, I was a master at suppressing giggles whenever I heard Bahamians talk about how pretty snow was, how it looked so light and fluffy in pictures, and about how they couldn’t wait for its cottony softness to fall out of the sky so they could go outside and play like the Canadian children they’d seen in photos.
Inevitably this all changed and within an hour or two of the first snowfall and “wonder rush” outside. Later in the day, I would find them huddled around in the TV in the common area, wrapped in blankets and muttering about how miserable and cold snow was; many refusing to go outside for days.
This is what happens when you see pictures of snow all your life, but never actually experience it. Above is my contribution to the Caribbean mystery of snow.
I have to say that yesterday was truly a weird weather day — and quite possibly a snow day that even my Bahamian floormates could tolerate. I can’t speak for the rest of the city because apparently it was different in the 4 quadrants, but for us here is how the snow day came together:
- 6:30am: I was walking the dogs in mild-ish weather with no snow in sight.
- 8:00am: We were drowning in a snow downpour.
- 12:00pm: It was warm again and the snow was melting fast — so fast that steam was coming off the walkways and Rob’s porch.
- 2:00pm: It was snowing again complete with thunder and lightning.
- 4:30: It was warm enough to go outside and build a snowman without mitts (the snow felt warm).
- 6:00pm: Our snow man had mostly melted.
The good news is it is supposed to be in the mid to high teens (Celsius) this weekend.
One person was pleased by the arrival of heavy “coastal snow” and orchestrated the construction of a snow-girl in the backyard. She named her something in Hindi that I couldn’t quite understand. And, after she posed like a good little Canadian girl in the snow.
(Speaking of La Niña and her intimate knowledge of Calgary’s East Indian community, La Niña is off on a Vaisakhi Hindu wedding adventure today. She was invited to a private gathering of family and elders and spent the day exploring the wonders of exotic home-cooked food, eastern dress, dance, and song. How awesome is that?)
Some time in the course of the evening Ralph the Snow Man appeared on Rob’s lawn. I have to say it was more of a race than a standard snowman construction as Ralph’s parts melted and fell off faster than he could be put together. In all, Ralph didn’t last long, probably 15-20 minutes, before the heat got to him and his head fell off. Shortly after he got a tummy tuck and it was all downhill from there (literally).
