Perhaps we need words for the seasons here on Bowen Island. “Winter” isn’t exactly accurate. Since December 21 when Winter was supposed to have begun we have had the following kinds of days, among others:
- Cold and clear days with no wind
- Snow that falls in some places but rains in others
- Southeasterly winds with rain.
- Calm and cold everywhere except in the Queen Charlotte Channel where a Squamish wind one mile storm force wind is blowing with freezing spray.
- Foogy to 100 meters above sea level with an inversion making it 10 degrees on top of the mountains.
- Damp evenings that produce heavy hoarfrosts in the morning.
- Nights when the owls call for joy.
- Sunny and warm mornings when the winter wrens take a stab at their spring calls.
- Heavy snow that falls and stick on the Douglas-firs and cedars and brings down the alders and rotten maples.
- Quiet mornings when the towhees explore the underbrush.
- Days when it rains so hard that the deer just stand in it looking miserable.
- Calm days where the ocean is like glass and you can here ravens calling from miles away.
It makes more sense around here to follow the old Celtic calendar which has just ticked over Imbolc on February 1, the beginning of spring. It feels like that today, with southeasterly winds blowing and rain showers coming and going with patches of bright sky over the Sound.
Just beautiful weather here the last week. We have been living under a high pressure system that is forcing some wonderful meterological phenomena. Notably, the high pressure traps cold air near the sea and creates an inversion, meaning that the moisture can’t escape and form clouds, so it lingers at sea level forming think banks of fog that fill the Strait of Greorgia and Parts of Howe Sound.
Last night the fog bansk were as thick as they can get and all night long we were treated to the soothing symphony of dozens of different fog horns sounding out in the dark. the Point Atkinson lighthouse, which is miles away at the entrance to English Bay has a classic two tone deep “eeeee-ooooo” and the whistles and horns from moving ships in the night answered the call.
This morning in the bright sunshine on Bowen, the fog did it’s best to fill the Sound, but we somehow escaped the cool, and we are being treated to an incredible display of light and blue sky and grey fog flowing in from the Strait. There is something to be said about how bright the sun is when it rises out of the fog and reflects off the tops of what previously obscured it.
Yesterday, the kids and I went skiing at Cypress and the view from Mount Strachan shows the way the fog coats the city and eases part way into Howe Sound. It made for beautiful views, and a gorgeous sunset.