On the move again...

Yup, it's that time again time to pack up and haul ourselves to a new home. Despite the fact that the tone of that sentence might seem grudging...I am actually looking forward to a new beginning.

We will vacate this house this month and move into an apartment above my parents house. So we have all our possessions in one location and now it's time to do some serious downsizing. There are six bins in the basement...one for each of us...this it the limit of keepsakes...I am currently the worst offender. My bin is the fullest, mostly with bits of writing. I am always amazed at how much I have written down for no particular reason than to record my thoughts. I suppose there is a cathartic effect from just writting out the thoughts that run through my mind.

Anyway...summer clothes inhabit a few bins and craft things another...slowly I am sifting through things that have been stored away for most of the last 10 years. Funny to come across photos of old friends...letters from people, whose memory had faded...cards from relatives...old clothes...old books... The most disconcerting thing that I frequently come across is half-done projects...I am hoping to redeem some of these in the coming few months.
 
Meanwhile out in the snow...there is fun for all.

The girls were wondering how we would get any homeschooling done with all the fun to be had outside in the snow. So snow forts are being constructed...snow angels dot the landscape...paths weave to and fro over the piles of snow. And homeschooling is being resumed as the temperatures being to dip down.

Serious Snow!

Well, we already have a downfall of about 25cm...and I think today's snowfall has added another 20 cm or so.

It is so beautiful...the girls are having fun building a snow village. Little ones are learning to wear layers. Big ones are learning snowball etiquette. And I have a cold...so I am enjoying the snow from the otherside of the frosty windows.

Now that I have been learning more things about climate change there is not only a sense of nostalgia about heavy snowfall, but of relief for the coming year. AS for the aesthetic of Thunder Bay, it is a happy place in the snow...everything glistens, particularly in the evenings under the street lights. The lights cast a warm pink glow on the freshly fallen snow...lending an inviting feel to a bone chilling night.

It's funny how I can remember the joy of 'snow days'. I have a distinct recollection of walking home bundled up so that the only part exposed to the elements were my eyes. My eyes peeked beneath the top wrap of my woolen scarf, squinting against the blowing snow. My mother firmly held my hand on one side and my brother's on the other...the only difference between him and I was his snow wear was in blue tones and mine in rusts. And we knew that a warm house waited for us...probably with hot chocolate and cookies by a wood fire all helping to fortify us against the weather battering the world on the outside.

For all we have progressed as a civilization the weather serves as a tangible reminder of our slot on the totem pole being lower than we think and less influential than we hope. From tornadoes to tsumanies, floods, storms, and snow... these are all events that we can see coming but we cannot stop them. They run their course oblivious of the upheaval that they wreak on our lives.

Even today...nothing moved until the snowploughs were out. And then nothing moved until you dug through the heap of packed snow that was left at the end of the driveway by the ploughs. Up until this moment the buses are running on limited schedules and people need help to do the things that were easily accomplished last weekend...

Maybe as we sit in our homes we should be mindful of the protection afforded by the houses that are our shelter...to be mindful of the protection afforded by the God that is our shelter...