i wonder how long the snow will continue to be an adventure and will just become a pain. going to the grocery store became an event. my car had been sitting for awhile, and was covered in snow and ice. it was about -11C (that's about 12 in 'stupid degrees' as my boyfriend would say...), windy with snow flurries.

one: dress warmly. put on jacket, scarf, gloves, socks, shoes. like an idiot, forget hat. figured i'd be ok - after all, i only had to walk from the car to the store. how bad could it be?

two: run out to car, forgetting i will be spending the next 15 minutes outside trying to de-snow and de-ice car.

three: open door, sending the 5 cm of snow covering the window flying into the air and all over me. sit down in car, insert key and turn. windshield wipers were left on, they shoot across the windshield, sending the 5 cm of snow covering it across the windshield and dumping it in the crack between my open door and the car frame, covering the driver's side floormat with said snow. (note to self: do not turn car on without door closed. remember to turn off wipers)

four: get out of car and get to work with the ice scraper. brush accumulated snow off the roof, sending it flying into the wind, into the collar of my jacket, into my hair. try to continue brushing carefully, but realize i'm going to get covered with snow regardless. finish brushing.

five: attempt to scrape ice off windows. besides making a lot of noise, don't make much progress. go back in the house and fill up waterbottle with warm water (as suggested by canadian boyfriend). pour water over the passenger's side window. pour over rear passenger's side window. go to scrape front window, and realize all i have done is create a very thick layer of ice on my window. try again, this time scraping as i pour. ahh! success. (well, mostly). thank god the driver's side wasn't icy.

six: drive to grocery store. realize it takes a long long time to stop on snow, and your car now has a mind of its own. park as soon as you see an empty spot, as the parking lot isn't plowed and is very confusing. it's snowing harder now. run into store.

seven: shop, thankful i only needed a few things, because pushing a grocery cart on snowy ice does not sound like a fun thing to do. the carts have the same wimpy wheels as everywhere else. don't they get upgraded to snow tires or 4 wheel drive carts here?

eight: run to car, which is easy to find due to snow piled on roof that i couldn't brush off. i keep thinking 'oh, whatever, it'll just melt off' - um, no, because it's highly unlikely the temperature will rise above freezing anytime soon. i don't think that snow piled on the floor of the car will melt much, either.

nine: drive home peeking through sliver of clear vision on the windshield. skid, almost miss driveway. park car and debate walking to the grocery store next time.

i do really really like it here, but this snow stuff is going to take some adjustment!