The Big Post

Lots of interesting things to reveal this update; though notably not connected with my recent holiday south. I will work backwards from now until yesterday, stating; I’m fine now. I’m typing to you from a warm house. Cozily sipping tea while I sit. As I noted yesterday about my car trip back from the train station it had been snowing lightly. Sometime while I was sleeping peacefully things turned nasty here - across much of Japan actually. A storm hit and the wind picked up enough by 6 AM to wake me up. Also the noise of snow removal was loud but comforting. 32 cm of the wettest snow imaginable over night! The temperature was a bearable +2 but it turned that 30 cm of snow into 15. It was hard to concretely say if the roads were “snowed over” or “under water”.

Going to bed early the night before, I hoped to be up early to tackle my many neglected chores. Waking up early I noticed the power had been out during the night. It was still very early but while lying in bed the power went out again. No problem though, it returned just as quickly a second time. However, not soon after that it went out a third time. I looked pensively at my alarm clock waiting for it to blink back on again but I had a strong feeling it was not going to come back on again anytime soon. I was right. Eight hours later power was restored to the town of Shikaoi. My day marked by both complete boredom and getting nothing accomplished. Oh, lets not forget how cold my day was. The only thing warm about it was clearing my driveway of the slush. Most of Shikaoi will continue to clean up tomorrow. It was fun watching all the different types of snow come down. Early on it had been sort of an deadly snow going horizontally with the wind. The rainy periods were distressing and the ice pellets note-worthy. Slushy snow and big fluffy type snow were also noted in my yard. I normally enjoy non-fiction but with an open day before me with no high-speed internet, no computer, no TV, and no tunes I turned to a Grisham novel Sean left that I new offered the best chance at holding my attention for several long hours. I was right, and so wearing all the clothes I owned under several blankets I peacefully sat and read after making tea on the stove. I was a bit distressed because this can be a dangerous situation in Canada and I didn't really understand what was going on.


Sean, with the help of the gods, made it out of Japan before all this hit, including various train and airport delays across the country. I am still asking myself why I didn’t just stay in Sapporo the extra night but it was fun digging out the candles and wondering how I would use my gas stove to make pasta in the dark. I have attached above a picture from Chitose airport directly before we hugged and he departed leaving me to a cold house and no lights. By now I have received word that Sean is safely home and is hopefully sharing everything about our trip with those in Alberta.