Snowing

I woke up this morning and saw snow on the ground, and I couldn't help but smile. This seems to happen every year when the first snowfall happens. (Technically, we have had some snow earlier this fall, but those light dustings barely count. This one might not last either, but it's more significant than the others we've had.)

But why do I smile when this means there are months of cold weather coming up? Maybe I like cold weather with snow more than somewhat cold weather without snow (which is how it's been for most of the last month or two). Maybe I'm looking forward to skiing. Maybe it's because a snowy landscape is more beautiful than the brown landscape I've been looking at lately. Maybe it's just a different kind of beauty, one I haven't seen in several months (except that one day in Banff at the end of August). Maybe it's because anticipating bad times is sometimes worse than experiencing bad times. (The cold weather made me anticipate winter. Now the snow makes me feel like winter is here.)

Unfortunately, I'm sure my happiness about this weather won't last. Hopefully I'll enjoy it today anyway.

Going the wrong way

On the way back home from a one-day spring skiing trip in Jasper, I saw a flock of birds flying south. I thought they're supposed to fly north in spring. My brother was there too and he is my witness.

Today on the way home from work, I saw a flock of birds flying north. Again, I would've expected them to fly the other way. I didn't have any witnesses with me, but shortly after that, I saw another flock of birds flying south, so if my sense of direction is messed up, there was still at least one flock of birds going the wrong way. A little while after that, I saw several flocks of birds quite close together, all flying north, and then another lone flock flying north.

I wonder what makes these birds go the wrong way. Maybe they got tired and thought, I saw a lake back there. I'll turn around and rest there. Or maybe they read a Yellowknife weather forecast in Fahrenheit and they thought it was in Celsius. Any other far-fetched explanations?