Dull and grey - or is it?

January is the month we usually get housebound. Too housebound. Christmas is over, and it's a long stretch to spring. As I posted before, we are trying to change that a little.

A snowstorm began Saturday morning. We had planned to make a day trip, but the windchill factor was at -22, so we scrapped that idea pretty quickly. If we were going to drive somewhere, we'd want to walk around a bit, and it wouldn't have been any fun. Last weekend we had the same idea, and it wasn't that cold, but a blown tire just after getting on the highway put an end to the plans that time.

Saturday's snow was not pretty postcard snow. It was superfine, and not sticking to any branches or trees, so no pretty snow effects. It was coming down diagonally, and there were nasty gusts of wind. But since it was the weekend, some errands still needed to be run, so we decided to combine that with a quick look around the area. Was there  something interesting in the landscape worthy of a picture and a word or two? Could we find some beauty in all this dreariness?

We drove to Nichol Island Road, usually a pretty spot in summer. The sky was the colour of primer, one vast uniform expanse. The fine but persistent snow grayed out everything in the distance. The roads were greasy with the snow accumulation, and traffic lanes were more a suggestion than reality. Every once in a while paint lines became visible in the tracks, and we'd realise we're going straight in the left turning lane.

Once on Nichol Island Road, we crossed the bridge onto the dam and noticed a group of ice fishers and an ice hut on the ice by the locks. We drove on to the island to get a better angle to photograph them. Nature may appear  asleep this time of year, but it is not quite. Under the ice there are fish to be caught. And no doubt in the ice hut, there is some beer to be drunk.

The mooring posts at the dock near the lock's entrance appeared out of place in the snow, the water's edge having all but disappeared.

The lock equipment was partially buried in the snow. A clump of birch trees nearby looked all sorts of dirty gray and beige against the pristine white snow. In summer the trunks usually stand out clean and white against the green surroundings.

The abandoned house similarly acquired a lot of hidden colour against the white snow. In summer it is partially overgrown by weeds and vines, but now it was more visible. The once white clapboard looked beige, gray and even yellow in some spots yesterday.

Dead weeds in the unused fields around the house bobbed their dried flower heads on the wind in the exact same way they do in summer. In a few months they will be back at their job of trying to take over this house and the collapsed outbuildings.

The snow was so fine that the flakes did not really show up on any of the pictures, only the gray backgrounds allow you to conclude that it was snowing pretty heavily. 

Back on the slippery roads and off to the shops we went. In contrast to the restful Nichol Island area. the shopping plaza is not so nice in winter. Everyone is impatient to get through the intersections, and plows can't keep the roads clean. A snow median was even starting to form on the road.

We didn't hang around any longer than needed to run our errands here. Snow may be pretty in a more nature like setting, but in a place like this, it's just a headache.