Winter Wonderland

I'm sitting in the living room of friends, warmed by their wood stove, sipping tea, listening to Christmas music, and looking out at the bright blue sky, the snow laden trees and Mount Benson watching over us like a sentinel.

We had dinner together last night, and they invited me to sleep on their couch when the snow looked too deep for me to get home.

This morning we had delicious oatmeal porridge with all sorts of goodies mixed into it. Then I helped them shovel their driveway.

The roads here in Nanaimo now are looking better, and I'll soon head home. But it sure has been nice to hang out with friends from my cohousing fraternity.

Baptism by snow

In an earlier post, I referred to my baptism by fog. Well, today it was snow. My vehicle got stuck in the snow on the back country road on which I'm currently living. It's a long shaggy dog story, and I won't burden you with the details. Suffice it to say, it was quite the adventure.

But, even in the middle of the "adventure," there were things to appreciate. Like the overwhelming kindness of the local residents in this rural area. Like the picture postcard beauty of the snow covered forest. Like the long underwear that I'd taken the precaution of putting on this morning.

I'm also grateful that, pretty soon, I'll be living in Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community, within easy walking distance of a supermarket, and within reasonable walking distance of downtown Nanaimo, the harbour and Vancouver Island University.