Snow, Snow, Here to Stay ...

Stephen Lam, EUSS President

It was January 20, Saturday; I woke up at 8:30am and went back to school to do some EUSS business. I got to the lab at 10:00am and five minutes later, it started snowing. The ground and the sky were dusted with dry, clean and white powder. The first real snow storm in Vancouver this year on my first presidential day, is this a good sign or not? I tried to concentrate on working but I kept looking outside while I was sending out emails. The lab was really quiet; there were only about 10 people. I got up and walked to the glass door. The ground was blanketed by an inch of tiny fluffy white feathers. It was so beautiful, so peaceful. I went into the EUSS office to read the mail and the manuals. The things on the "to do list" were being crossed out slowly. I went back to the pit and now the snow flakes were growing. The sky was so bright and clear; the white blanket on the ground was sparkling as if diamonds were sewed to it. I printed out a couple of things for WECC and then I tried out the new surfing board on the labNET.

Now that the EUSS business was taken care of, I should start doing some work for my courses. I went to the NeXT lab through the door at the loading dock and the wind greeted me with white sprinkles. The cold crystals melted and soon evaporated when they landed on my face. I went into the elevator and pressed number 9. When the door opened, I walked out and realized that I must have been daydreaming _ I was supposed to go to the 6th floor, silly me! I took the stairs and I saw thousands of tiny white butterflies dancing in the wind. I printed out the notes and the assignment for my MACM course and went back to the pit. It was now 2:45pm. I packed my stuff and went upstairs to my locker. Standing on the stairs, I could see once again the dancing white butterflies. Only this time the windows are cleaner; they should really wash the windows in the Kinesiology building. I love the snow: the dry, clean, white powder, not the wet, dirty, black slush. What a shame that they always come in a pair.

So, I left for home and took the 145 to Lougheed Mall. Drivers were very careful as the snow had now covered the road. I drank in every drop of the magnificent scene (Hmmm... where did I get that expression from?) while the bus was slowly approaching the bottom of the hill. I then had to take the 151 to Coquitlam where I live. I stood in one of those booths at the bus stop and started reading the Peak. "Polyester is coming back in fashion", eh? Have you ever seen those booths at the bus stop? Each has 3 panes of glasses on the back and 3 "sky-lights" as its roof. Well, the 151 booth has a broken pane of glass and a broken "sky-light", one on the left side and the other on the right side, so only the middle section is free from snow. The booth was packed so I had to stand in front of the broken pane of glass, and I got snow on my coat. I dusted my coat with the Peak trying to keep myself dry, and then I put on my headphones. The 151 finally came.

The bus slowly arrived at Brunette, and was now trying to get to Como Lake by travelling up the slope. We were on a small street the snow plough had not paid any attention to yet. The bus could not quite move up the slope so the driver asked everyone to sit at the back of the bus. The passengers started to panic but I was enjoying the view of the falling snow with some music. After a few steps on the gas pedal, we overcame the first and the steepest slope on our journey. We finally arrived at Como Lake, and we were now in the east side of Coquitlam. For some reason, the amount of precipitation is always greatest in the east side of Coquitlam. It has more rain, more snow and more fog than the Burnaby mountain top has. I suspect it has something to do with the enormous amount of trees available in Mundy Park.

The bus reached the end of Como Lake and must now get to Coquitlam Center by travelling down the hill through Spurway. However, Spurway was covered with snow and ice and the bus driver decided he would end the trip earlier. I got off the bus at the top of the hill and started walking down the hill. My home is 4/5 way up the hill so it didn't take too long to walk. As I walked down the slope, I saw that kids and dogs were playing merrily in the 4 inches of snow. All the kids were smiling, they were all playing in the snow; no adults were smiling, they were all shoveling the snow. Finally, I could see my cat standing at the window of my room wondering where the white stuff falling from the sky came from. I opened the door and the cat almost sneaked out. He loves to hide behind the door and try to sneak out when you open it.

The next morning, I woke up at 10:00am and the cat was crying and meowing. He saw the bright sunny sky outside and he wanted to enjoy some outdoor activities. Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with the carpet; he loves to go outside but mostly he just hides and sleeps in the bushes. I came out from the bathroom and the cat was still complaining that no one was letting him out. So my mom put him on a leash and opened the door. He went outside, sniffed the white stuff on the flower bed in the front yard and went right back inside the house. He seemed to remember what happened last year, or was it the year before that? Hmmm...

It had been snowing, it was sunny and the cat was also noisy. After hours of explaining to the cat (in Cantonese) that it was too cold to go outside, my mom gave up and put him on a leash. They went to the front yard and the cat jumped onto the flower bed only to discover that he was buried in the snow. He was really confused and he could not see anything but the white snow. He stood still for he had no clue what to do now. My mom picked him up and carried him back to the house, and the cat never mentioned "going out" for the rest of the snowy season. My mom said to the cat, "told you so."

I went to the living room and looked outside the window. I saw a perfect Christmas card scenery _ clear blue sky, snow capped mountains, trees dusted with confectioner's sugar, and ginger bread houses with white frosting on them. I really think that the white Christmas came a bit late.

Previous Index Next