Thursday, 8 December 2011

On the arrival of winter, thoughts

It was snowing lightly last night here in Montreal. When I looked out the window this morning, there was a light dusting of the white stuff hither and yon, but it seemed manageable and it was sunny. I even went down my front steps to assess the condition of the street. As I was unlocking die Fleddermoose, I noticed there were bit of ice frozen to the rims. At that point, I decided I shouldn't tempt fate. I went back inside, changed and went to work by BMW. En route to the Metro station, I saw some school kids slip-sliding on some icy patches on the road. When I emerged from the Metro, a flurry had developed to the point that biking seems a somewhat perilous proposition. I don't know if this means the end of the biking season per se or just for today. Time will tell, but winter has arrived.

It definitely has arrived in Scotland. The BBC is showing some very dramatic pictures of a storm hammering the country at this point.
This image of a wind turbine going kaput drew me to this gallery. Wind turbines are a relatively common landmark when biking. I vividly remember them in Spain and Alberta.
As well, I saw some being delivered to the docks in Campbeltown.
So to see an image of one getting blown to pieces is very interesting. However, the gallery also has this picture of two trucks that got blown over at Rest and Be Thankful!
Having been over that pass several times in better weather and once on Leonardo, I suspect that the drivers may not have reckoned on the changing wind patterns from a side valley. Then again, maybe the winds were simply so strong that nothing may have prevented the trucks from being blown over!
Me at Rest and Be Thankful in better weather

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