It took me a minute yesterday to realize that I was standing in slush. Slush! In Vancouver to boot.
This week has been cold. Actually cold. What was early morning dew last week has been frost this week. My roommates have had to actually scrape off their windshields. To illustrate how rare that is, on my way to the bus stop yesterday, I saw a guy using a credit card to scrape frost off his windows. Yes, a credit card. Frost is such a rare thing, the thought of an ice scrapper has not been had.
I was reminded of my days living and working in downtown Chicago. Freezing cold, despite layers, waiting for transit. Melting under all the layers while riding the “L” to work only to freeze again walking to the office. More people go to work early like myself in Chicago than they do here in Vancouver, but the route I take runs right past BCIT so the bus is usually full of students. I know that if I’m a minute late, I miss the least-full bus. The only way to get a least-full “L” ride to work was, well, come to think of it, I don’t think I ever had such a ride to work. It was either mostly full, or overcapacity.
Frost is rare in Vancouver. That makes slush also rare. Yet I found myself standing in at the corner, waiting for the light to change to cross and walk the last couple blocks to work. There was a nice tire print in the slush, just above my toe. That Chicago winter brain of mine perked up, and I smiled, remembering to cautiously walk across the street so as not to slip.