Good Snow Year

Some years are good wine years. Others are ‘long summer’ years.

I think 2015  is going to be known as a good snow year. I hiked this morning (Friday), at 7 AM, some eight and a half  kilometers (thanks to MapMyHike) in the snow up in the mountains above Beirut.  No one is out at that time because people assume that the roads have not been cleared yet. They have, but let's keep them thinking they haven't.

 

 

 

 

It has been raining all week in Beirut. Yesterday (Thursday) , hubbie was at home, but he needed to go to someone’s condolences, so he dresses up in a suit. As he leaves the house to get on his bike, it stops raining. He drives to where he needs to be, and once he’s inside, it starts raining again. He pays his respect, and as he leaves, it stops raining. He rides back home again and just as he gets into the house, it starts raining.

 

 

 

Now my scenario. It is dry. I need to walk to my work. I have hardly closed the door behind me or it starts raining and hailing. I get (very wet) to my work and the rain stops. Then I need to walk to another building at work to pick up some paperwork. As I walk out, it starts raining. When I get to the other building it stops. I organize my work, and I need to walk back to my office; it starts raining again. I get into the building, it stops. At the end of the day, as I walk home, it starts raining again.

 

 

This global warming thing is working out well for my daughter. We’re on our fourth storm of the season (this one’s called Windy, very appropriate), and schools have closed again. Between the many saints, religious holidays, and storms, there is some school. She’s not complaining.

 

Snow Dog

Neither am I. As soon as the Ministry of Education announced the students were off, I went up to the mountains. It is snowing as low as 500 meters, and that’s pretty low for Lebanese standards. It even snowed in Beirut last night; wet snow, and it melted as soon as it hit the ground, and it only snowed for like 5 minutes, but still, (wet) snow in Beirut is pretty unusual.

The mountains become absolutely beautiful when it snows, and waking up while it snows is as good as it gets. And tomorrow promises to be beautiful!