song of the day: ani d. - grey

yes, it snows. it's mid-november and it snows. it's not that unusual to happen - a couple of years back. We didn't have snowy winters the last few years thanks to global warming.
this year it seems global warming was turned off, because not only did it snow it also didn't melt away instantly.
I took a couple of pictures out of the living room window and put it into my flickr account. here's one of them.

I love snow - to snowboard, to build snowmans, to throw snowballs at the other kids...BUT, I hate snow in the city. it always turns into this grey to black-ish color dirty cold mass or it just half-way melts away and when cars drive by they spray you with wet, dirty mud that once was snow. Also public transport isn't able to be on time for a couple of days and I don't even wanna start ranting about all the car owners who pretend never to have heard of snow and drive like it. also it usually hits them that summer tires might not be appropriate anymore the very first morning they see it snows, but who has the kind of time to change tires...!?...and they drive like that until the snow goes away, it seems.
I know this is an utter pessimistic view on snow in the city but hailing from a rather rural area and having spent all my childhood holidays in a region that still uses oil stoves to heat up their houses, I just can't get over the fact that people here in the city like their snow experience.
I'm used to walk knee deep through the snow to get to the next house because snow plows would only be used on the main roads. I'm used to building snowmans and having snowball fights where we would be wet only afterwards and not dirty and wet. I'm used to picking up a hand full of snow when thirsty and "drinking" snow that actually tastes like fresh spring water and not like pollution and unhealthy.
I know I sound like the next environmentalist here, but I miss those days. Maybe because I was a child back then, but I don't believe it's the only reason.
the house I spent my childhood holidays in was torn down (that story is too long for now) but this is actually not too far away and the only picture I could find that was half-way decent was this one.

I have to say thought, that gf brought me a snowball when she came home from getting breakfast...isn't she cute? I put the snowball into the freezing compartment in our fridge that sadly isn't freezing fast enough for the snow not to melt, so I took a picture and then let it melt in the sink...

for a more positive view on city snow try gf's blog...she hasn't yet, but I assume that she will blog about the first snow too...