Let me take you back. Back to last week. Last week when I had a picture looking across the water toward some ominous clouds over Vancouver and the mountains. I said, perhaps a little smugly “But on the mainland winter has arrived”.

The joke was on me.

You see I forgot that the water is only around thirty miles wide. By Monday morning winter had arrived here. It started snowing on Monday and continued into Tuesday. On Wednesday it snowed and Marsha shovelled the driveway. Thursday it snowed all morning and we ended up with several more inches on the roads. Friday was the break. Rain. OK it started out as freezing rain but by noon it had warmed and was raining heavily. By Sunday most of the snow was gone. That’s how I like my winters: Sharp and brief.

That didn’t sound smug did it? I hope not.

One thing I noticed was that snow seems to bring out morons. I don't mean people that don't know how to drive in snow and ice. Those are a dime a dozen around here. I mean people that AGGRESSIVELY show that they don't know how to drive in snow and ice. This brings me to Wednesday morning. I stopped at Tim Horton's on the way to work. Hey it might have been a terrible snowstorm that had paralyzed the Island and the whole region but I was not going to be denied my morning hot chocolate. Anyway as I was leaving I noticed a truck driving through the lot. It was a black customized 4x4. I knew it was customized because of the big tires, the suspension jacked up to make the floor of the truck a full two feet off of the ground, and the custom paint. The track was black with gold metal flake pin striping down the sides. On the tailgate in the same gold metal flake paint was a big hand painted Dodge rams head, a sign that proudly proclaimed "My Truck Eats Chevy's and ***** Fords, (only he didn't use ****), and a large 4 x 4 emblem. The 4 x 4 sign was, as you will see, most significant.

I watched this guy cruise through the lot, really a bit too fast. He then slid to a stop just before the speed bump at the exit. The road was clear so he punched it. Way too much power. The rear end slid sideways over the curb and he got hung up. I turned around and departed by the other exit so the last thing I saw was him  slamming from reverse to first trying to get unhooked from the curb. Apparently the idea of putting it in 4 wheel drive during a major snow and ice storm and driving carefully never occurred to him. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer was he?  But wait it gets better. One block down I found myself stopped at a light right behind the same Dodge. He was first in line but had stopped a good five or six feet behind the line. He was sitting there revving his engine. Vroom, vroom, vrOOOM, vrOOOOM. At this point he dropped the clutch, either he was trying to move up to the line or maybe his foot just slipped. Either way the rear wheels spun and the rear of the truck swung about 45 degrees to the right. Just then the light turned green and he dropped the clutch again. The tires spun and the rear of the truck swung past centre to about 45 degrees to the left before he got it under control. I was holding back so he didn't hit me and I watched as he just lurched on down the road. Fortunately he went straight at the light and I turned so it was the last I saw of him.

But if you're in Nanaimo and you see a black Dodge 4 x 4 with an obscenity written in gold metal flake paint on the tailgate, you might want to go the other way. It's just a good idea.

Doug & Marsha

All pictures were taken from our back deck.
Snow on a monkey puzzle tree



Sunday before all heck broke loose around here there was a beautiful sunset.





Marsha took this shot of the rugged mountains peaking out under a thick cloud cover over the island.


We took these pictures of the yard on Monday. Later in the week there was more snow, a lot more, but we were too busy trying to get things done to take pictures,


But it's all gone now.