Thunder in the Snow

I saw lightning and heard thunder today, for the first time -- in a snowstorm.
It was astonishing to experience, once you understood the source of your wonder.

We've had a fierce downfall all today. The biggest and most dangerous snowstorm I think I've ever seen -- not that the accumulation is so fierce, but the blizzard. Actual warnings to stay off the roads.

I'm inexplicably sad today. Could it come from the unexpected disappointments of late? Or the finishing of a novel, the falling out of the grip of its spell, its fantasy, back to earth. Where aimlessness abounds. Where is the heroic redemption?

I have not been able to stay warm, I think that says it all.

Music for this post: Beirut.

berlin, meine Liebe

I'm just come "home" to my hostel in East Berlin, smelling like an ashtray. can't remember the last time that's happened. Even the UK has gone smoke-free, it's unbelievable.

Had a most awesome night tonight with Deb and Seb. (Deb of Montreal/Smith Falls, Seb her Berliner boyfriend.) As part of the PopKomm event, there was an unbelievable lineup playing tonight at Postbahnhof that we paid merely 25 euros to see: Malajube, Menomena, Stars, Architecture in Helsinki.

All the bands were great, but Stars were... just...awesome. So melodic. I want to be Amy Millan. The guy (who is very short, good choice to become a rock star!) played a blow-keyboard! if that's what they're called.

For Stars and Architecture in Helsinki (who are crazy and fun), the last two bands, we were in the next-to-front and finally front row. Deb and I are both going to marry one of ArchInHelsinki's drummers. The same one.

So much to write about! Today I didn't get out til 3 (had work to do), but biked across Unter den Linden, giggling and completely please with myself for the bike plan. Biking in Berlin is such a pleasure, there are a lot of bike lanes and drivers are very watchful and respectful. It was a gorgeous and relatively warm day for a change: 20 degrees. Yesterday (Weds) I was freezing in Deb's apartment.

I stopped at the Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz, Siegesaule, Tiergarten, Zoo, KaDeWe. Got a half-liter of Heferweizen in a temporary biergarten by the Kaiser Gedachtnis Kirche (the half-tooth?), and had really good gelato (what is up with Berlin and great gelato?). Wandered down the street to KaDeWe, picked up some snacks at a market. Around 7pm, I biked back from West Berlin to East Berlin, glancing over my shoulder at the sunset as I whizzed through the Brandenburg gate. Such a pleasure, indeed.

possibly the best birthday ever

I finally got a weekend off, after working 25 days (with only one day off).
And it's my birthday (or was, on Sunday).
So I got the hell out of dodge with my new, dear friend Carla. Friday night I went to a bbq and indoor pool party at my friend's place. Saturday afternoon, Carla and I left for la Mauricie region, and went canoe-camping for 2 days. It was gorgeous, glorious bliss. And I got 12 hours of desperately needed sleep.
Most people don't know this, but canoe-camping is almost as lazy as car camping. We paddled to the first campsite on the lake, set up the tent and cooked a long, slow meal over the fire. The next morning, we "brunched" from 10 til 3, and paddled out on to the lake to swim, sunbathe & play around the boat. We swam and drifted for about 2 hours. And of course we talked, and talked and talked.
The weather was glorious, and not too hot -- finally some sun! -- and the bugs were out, but not too bad and only really at dusk. We went swimming whenever we got too hot. It was actually pretty funny, to be just sitting in the boat in our bikinis, drifing on the lake, lost in conversation, and every so often a canoe with 2 guys in it would pass us, and try to start a conversation. I guess they don't see many women out doing this kind of camping...
And oh, to get lost, and ignore the outside world. Having no cell phone reception was something I cherished. I realized at one point with a jolt just how immersed in the present I was, and it felt awesome.
No schedule, no itinerary... just lazy camping.
Definitely one of the best things I've ever done with a birthday.

lolcats

Something that never fails to amuse me over the last few days: cat macros, aka lolcats.
Start here, with Slate's essay on the subject.

Then start browsing here.

But my favourite, by far, is the walrus:

spring skiing

I'm leaving for Spain, France and possibly Portugal or Italy in 3 days, yay! But in the meanwhile...

We got a foot of snow last night & this morning! Crazy, becuase spring had finally sprung.
So I had to ski into work today, to take advantage.

It's the most awesome feeling, to immerse yourself in such a white world for an hour, and the come down into the city, refreshed and alive, carrying your skis under your arm. The looks you get that say "wow, you're crazy", and you smile back to say "yes, and it's awesome".

The snowfall was the heaviest kind of wet snow, most ideal for snowballs. The snow under my skis was thick, creamy, and delicious. The flakes coming down yesterday were the largest I'd ever seen, as big as plums. So many branches had come down in Mount Royal park overnight, under the weight of the snow. (Sadly, the limbs with the most buds came down first.) Huge limbs, spanning the whole road, as if to say "go back home with your machinery".

The entire mountain is frosted white, every branch bearing snow. No plows have made it through, so the only colour is the sky, the treetrunks, and the underside of the branches. Absolute white, absolute peace, where yesterday there had been mud and the renewed decay of a winter's worth of organic matter.

bleary rain

Weather like this makes me think of the West Coast, and how this time of year, 9 and 10 years ago, each of my grandmothers was dying.
The only consolation is that biking in light +5 drizzle is really exhilarating. City biking is a great way to feel alive.
I think I would be a different person if Erik hadn't taught me how to live so recklessly in Switzerland. The invincible shield of youth and calculated risk.

Yesterday, I packed 7 friends & 1 super-cool mom off to a Cabane a Sucre (sugar shack), which is a big Quebecois tradition. Being April Fool's day, we dressed like fools. Lots of fun, lots of meat, lots of mud, lots of tire, and a few goats.

Happy Birthday Aunt Helga!

My Aunt Helga, who had a really bad fall in December, just told me that she was outside chipping today, practicing for golf season. She says her broken shoulder is all healed.

Oh, and: she had her accident December 15th, and was home from the hospital within a week.

She turned 86 today, nothing can stop her, and she's the most amazing person I know.