The amount of wildlife around here nearly makes up for the lack of snow that I’m going to enjoy this christmas. What snow was in the surrounding areas of the lower mainland is close to being completely gone. That’s not to say that it is a tad cold outside. Being this far north, the amount of daily sunlight is slightly less than what Iowa gets this time of year. When I go running around the seawall in the morning, you have to be careful in the areas where you can tell that the sea water has crashed up onto the pathway. It ices over just slightly enough that you can break through the top when you step on it. It’s still slippery underneath though, so you have to really keep your eyes peeled.
Frost is enough to send people into a telephone poll or falling down on their butt. There is that element of being surprised. The fact that you just weren’t ready for there to be this stretch of pavement somewhere that has this gentle, slippy layer of water that condense into a solid form over night. It looks like snow almost, but it’s not. Combine that with steep inclines and hills, and you have a perfect mix for being stranded until the sun burns it all off or the somewhat rare sand truck comes by your side street to offer you some help. Obviously downtown, these events are much more rare.