Snow - a photo on Flickriver

Snow

If you like this images and want to see more photos or travel stories, please visit www.wanderism.com
© Doug Murray
Visit my blog.
Follow me on Twitter.

Cheers!

Vancouver, B.C. after a rare dump of snow (54th and Knight area).

So here's the deal: I've had the opportunity to live across Canada. Born in Halifax, NS raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thunder Bay, Ontario for college. Portage la Prairie, Manitoba for that first job. Then back to Halifax for six years. Then back to Winnipeg for a few. And eventually I landed in Vancouver (though that too comes to an end when I move to Takoradi, Ghana in January).

Most people know Canada as the land of winter. We wear it like a badge of honour while complaining about scraping the car windows and clearing the walk. But we love it because it reminds of who we are and where we are.

But you might not know that the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, on Canada's Pacific coast, is a bit of a freak of nature.

Owing to things like mountains and ocean currents, the southwestern bit of Canada rarely sees what the rest of the country calls winter. Sure, we get snow in the mountains, but that's more like winter on demand. Want snow? Drive to top of mountain. Want beach? Drive to waters edge.

At the lower elevations, Vancouver rarely freezes and rarely gets a big white dump more than once a year. Usually it's never more than a cm or two. Normally, endless amounts of rain fall from the skies during the winter months.

Just a couple of centimetres of snow is enough to cause chaos in a city with little more than a straw broom and a couple of shovels in its snowclearing kit.

The 2006 dump arrived on Saturday (Nov 25) and, as I write this, continues. Where I live, in the south part of Vancouver, we've had about at least 20 cm -- transforming my home into an absolute wonderland.

All the while, people living in places where the snow lasts for months wonder what the big deal is.

It's a Vancouver thing. It's a reminder that we're in Canada and that every once in a while our home becomes a winter wonderland, just like in the rest of the country.

Thankfully, it doesn't last for four months! :)

Also appeared on the ELLEN show in Americaland.

© Doug Murray
Visit my blog.
Follow me on Twitter.

Taken in: Canada / British Columbia / Vancouver (show map)

Taken on: November 27, 2006

Tags:

borderfilms

November

27 more »

2006

Vancouver

snow

storm

neige

dump

D70

10.5

6566

Utata

www.roadspill.org

wanderism.com

borderfilms.com

winter

cold

frigid

blue

morning

peaceful

gadling

sno

pic

snow pictures

images of snow

winter wonderland

snowfall

Canada

British Columbia

Olympics

Games

2010

Olympic Winter Games

snowpocolypse

snowmageddon

206-333-0220 « less

Sets appears in: • Flickr Archive 2 • All Pix more » • All Pix • Doug Work 1 • Images I Like • My Faves • Changing Favorites • Vancouver • Snowcouver « less

Groups appears in: • Utata • Beautiful British Columbia more » • Gadling • Vancouver DSLR Photographers • flaneur • Eye Candy! • Lonely Planet Photo Challenges • MOO's Super-Duper Holiday Card Competition • The Best Picture Gallery! • 4 ѕєαѕσηѕ « less

Camera: Nikon D70, f/6.3, 1.6 sec, 10.5mm (=15mm), ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D70
Lens:	10.5 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/6.3
Exposure Time:	1.6
Focal Length:	10.5mm (35mm equivalent: 15mm)
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
Color Space:	Unknown (-1)
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows
Show full info

Stats: 63,147 views / 63 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: