I love how how living in a frigid extreme lets you really take in how varied the cold can actually be. Sometimes it's gorgeous and sometimes it's menacing, but man is it exhilarating - sun may be fun, but for me, the cold is what really makes you feel alive. When your heart is pumping right out to your extremities, and your eyes are clear and your cheeks are real-life rosy, that's what its all about.
When I stepped out of the airport in Montreal last month, I suddenly started coughing it was so cold - such an unexpected shock to the system that my lungs were taken aback (like if you put your face into a bag of vinegary chips and breeth deeply). Four weeks later a friend remarked without irony that it was "warm", because it was one degree (33F). He was right - outside most of the snow had disappeared, and people were out and about - on bicycles!
When I first got here, to me, there was snow falling. And more snow falling. Now there's the movie-perfect snowflake snow, which comes to rest silently on your eyelashes and lips; the wet snow, which runs down your neck behind your scarf and turns the roads to slush; the 'fat snow' which is big and clumpy and looks like the flakes have got into groups of about 5 or 6 and are coming down huddled together, like skydivers holding hands; the 'someone dumped a tub of glitter in the sky' snow, where the sun shines through it and everything sparkles; and the 'flurry snow' which is everywhere and swirly and makes you feel like you're in a snowglobe that's just been shaken (but also, get home before it gets dark because it's about to get really cold and you could lose a few fingers).
The eskimos were right.
This was a great read, Jess! Snow's always been a source of Canadian pride, and I can well easily relate to all of the flavours of snow you mention.
ReplyDeleteIn particular I've always loved the different sound snow makes underneath boots. The loud pop of packed snow going that extra mile under your weight. There's the scruffy crackling of of, cold, snow. There's slush and ice and squealing snow as if to yell "Get offf meeee!"
The eskimo line was a great closer, and fits perfectly. But did you know that's an urban myth? If not now ya do! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow