Victoria

We do not normally get much snow here in Victoria (last year was an exception) and we handle it about as well as does London and the south east of England. Most years the snow experience is similar to that which we have just enjoyed; a brief – if heavy – fall of snow, followed rapidly by recovering temperatures and the associated expeditious disappearance of said frozen precipitation.

We do, however, occasionally get a ‘Snow Day’ – as did we yesterday. It was a teaching day for me and I awoke to the news that neither my – nor my students – presence would be appreciated on campus. College was closed!

Traditionally one emits a loud ‘Whoopee!’ at this point, followed by joining the eager throng rushing out to play in the snow. I restricted myself to the former – any pretence at the latter taking the form of shoveling snow to try to keep our access clear.

Anyway – it looked like this:

One of the big challenges in this sort of weather is keeping the nectar in the hummingbird feeders from freezing. When it does so I have to contemplate venturing outside to whisk the feeders in and try to warm the contents. The birds themselves, meanwhile, are getting in the habit of lining up outside the windows – wings a-flutter – and peering in at us as if to say – “Oy! Get out here and sort this out!”

Experiencing this level of snowfall in Victoria is pretty unusual. CTV News reports thus:

“After another 23 centimetres fell on B.C.’s capital Monday in a coastal snowstorm, Environment Canada confirmed the region has seen more snow this month than any February since records began in 1941.”

Even on our little plot I can attest that the snow levels are up to the top of one’s Hunter wellies (and sometimes beyond) – in places drifting several feet and more deep!

Now, inhabitants of other parts of Canada – some of them not very far away – have a jolly good laugh at Victoria’s expense when it comes to the City’s inability to process even mild amounts of snowfall. Boy, are they chuckling now! We would naturally point out that we have plenty of other things on which to waste our tax dollars rather than investing in expensive snow-clearing machinery that would sit idle in its garage four years out of every five.

No matter.

These photos show how the snow built up over the last few days:

I am trying to keep up a constant supply of unfrozen nectar for these little fellers:

The good ship ‘Dignity‘ handles well in most weathers, but this goes well beyond her design capabilities: