Saturday 30 October 2010

Wasn't meant to last

It was, as they say, not meant to last.
A killer frost did them in,
the deal sealed with a skiff of light snow.


Tiny pink ballerina skirts,
crisp with cold
and capped with a crystalline pouf.



The first snow of the season wasn't even in the forecast. At work last night, someone looked out into the darkness and saw tiny white flakes floating down into the pools of yellow beneath the street lights.

It won't last. The first one almost never does. It'll warm up enough to melt it away. But it is a hint of what's to come... the long cold of prairie winter stalks us stubble jumpers relentlessly.


Pips (aka That Damn Cat) darted out the door after me as I went to take the above photos. I didn't even know she was out until she chirped at me as I stood on the front lawn, snapping away with the camera. She sat on the sidewalk, with her pristine white paws tucked closely together, shivering slightly in the morning's chill. She surveyed the neighbourhood, not wandering off, and was glad to be picked up in warm arms when I finished the photo shoot. Silly thing would never survive outside for long... the temperature is right around the freezing mark and she thinks it's cold already! She has no idea....

Although we first touched base (no, not like that! get your mind out of the gutter) in August, just before I met up with the (Not So) Funny Man, things are very slowly beginning to take on an air of exploration. I'll call him the Long Haul Brit. He's been in Canada for six years, a long haul trucker and is not often in town, but we keep in touch via email and phone calls. He said October would see probably more than 11,000 miles logged... I cannot imagine spending that much time behind the wheel and although he's done it for decades, all over Europe and now North America, he is now looking for something local so he can have a real home and a life. Spending all your time in truck stops and sleeping in a cubby hole is not any kind of a life unless you are content with Me, Myself and I as company. So the search is on for a new line of work. We are both hopeful that will happen relatively soon...

11 comments:

  1. the end of one season and the beginning of another, sugar. and then there are the flowers... ;~) xooxoxoox

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  2. I wish I could press the "like" button for Sav's comment. Oh wait, this isn't FB is it?

    Prairie winter...sounds so romantic, although I know it's hard...

    Raising a glass to the settling in and the exploring!

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  3. Savannah: Ah yes... and then the flowers... ;-) Hoping for a warm and cozy season! xoxoxoxoxoxo

    Leah: You could just go "LIKE!" I'd get it. ;-)

    Prairie winter... a paint colour perhaps? No, just brutal cold, painfully short days, endless dark and that wicked north wind!

    *clink*

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  4. But even dusted with snow, they're lovely. :)

    Here's hoping someone is soon there to keep you warm at night who isn't wearing a fur coat and purring. ;)

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  5. The flowers are beautiful, even until the end.

    Used to have an inside/outside cat. She would ask to go out in the (very rare) snow, then do an immediate about-face and hurry back on tip-toes!

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  6. I don't want to think about snow. I know it's unavoidable but I don't want to think about it. Do you know how you can tell you're an adult? Snow isn't fun anymore.

    He's taking is slow? That's refreshing. And smart. Didn't the last one come on kind of strong?

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  7. Hi,
    I love the pictures of your flowers from the cold Canadian praire. My impatiens still bloom with yet another frost this morning. They are my new favorite fall flower. No the trucker life is not one for long-term. My sister used to say she had three friends-Me, Myself and I. How can it be that I wasn't following you yet...

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  8. Such beautiful thoughts next to the beautiful pics...

    And if I might interject: SNOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Rhymes with Nooooooooooooo. Your Minnesota neighbors nod politely in your direction and wish you cute scarves and fuzzy socks.

    Pearl

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  9. Exploration? Having explored Europe; The Middle East; Russia and North Africa; USA and Canada, we are now in uncharted territory - Interesting!
    LHB...

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  10. Hope: Yeah, they are rather pretty, aren't they? Actually, winter here can be stunningly gorgeous, with brilliant white snow and endlessly clear blue-blue skies. When it isn't snowing, that is...

    Keep wishing that wish.. I am too! Thanks!!

    XL: I once had a cat that liked to go out and play in light fluffy snow! He'd dive into snow banks and play underneath... all you could see was the tip of his tail!!

    UB: It's inevitable... I get out as much as I can, temps permitting. Have to find new boots for the dog this year. Just might have to make my own. Good thing I know how to sew.

    Yvonne: Welcome! I'm not much of one for flowers but the cosmos (or anything else that is self sufficient) is high on my list of garden occupants. Might have to check out impatiens for next year.

    Pearl: I've put in a request that the snow hold off for about 2 months... or until just before Christmas. Would that do? I need some new scarves, though... and a new coat. Do I hear shopping trip!?!?! :-)

    Anon: Aha.... you snuck in! We are indeed in uncharted territory. Stay safe!!! :-)

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  11. Good luck with the charting voyages!

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