Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

My ongoing love affair with the white stuff

My favourite street in my neighbourhood in London, Ontario, Canada. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

I came to Canada at the age of 46, having seen snow just six times in the first four-and-a-half decades of my life.

Some slushy mush when I was a child as South Africa tried desperately to put on a show, a meagre offering on two separate trips to the UK, an incredible display in the Swiss mountains during a backpacking trip, one lovely night in San Antonio, Texas, and a week in Colorado Springs in early 2019.

Not the best snowflake resumé I have to admit, so I’m sure you can imagine how much I enjoyed my first winter in Southern Ontario, Canada.

Snowy suburbs. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

The pristine white landscape I marvelled over out of my basement apartment windows or on my neighbourhood walks filled me with a childlike joy that only a southern hemisphere soul could have.

My “before” and “after” clothes as I adjusted to the snowy temperatures. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

When I first moved to Canada, I went out on my walks looking like an explorer on an expedition in the Antarctic, now I sometimes take my hat and gloves off as I walk, building up a little heat as I go.

From snowy sunrises…

Snowy sunrises. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

… to snowy sunsets.

Snowy sunsets. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

From snow-covered fenceposts…

Snowy fenceposts. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

… to snow-covered Muskokas (Adirondacks).

Snowy Muskokas (Adirondacks). Photo by Vanessa Brown.

If it’s covered in snow, I think it’s beautiful and I’ll take a picture of it!

I pretty much love anything covered in snow. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

I’ve crunched my way down icy stairs and across a frozen lake, a bucket list item, believe it or not!

Snowy stairs and frozen lakes. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

I completed the hot water challenge in my backyard when it was -19◦ C (-2◦ F).

Snowy backyards. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

The only thing that gives me greater pleasure than a vista of the white stuff are the squirrels that I feed from my window, so when you combine two of my greatest loves… I’m sure you can imagine the rush of reward center neurotransmitters that explode in my brain!

Snowy squirrels. Photo by Vanessa Brown.

So, since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!