Comparisons

My mind has been churning over making comparisons lately, so many huge decisions & choices to be made. Once again I find myself not knowing where to start & with no hand here to guide me it could become almost overwhelming .....if I'd let it. Revisiting the same thoughts & concerns repeatedly & making those same comparisons time & again serves no purpose & becomes all too consuming.

When those thoughts start creeping in I think of the three things you can't recover in life:

The moment after it's missed

The word after it's said

The time after it's wasted

So quite simply I'm not letting anything overwhelm me - I don't the time to waste on that!

I'm putting it down on paper, making lists 'pros' one side 'cons'  the other - you know the routine. More often than not I find myself seriously torn...really seriously, & it surprises me. Perhaps it would help if both sides weren't quite so even!

While I'm on the subject of comparisons two images taken just a few days apart.

 This was looking towards the sun rising on the morning the mailleman left for Australia.

Looking in the same direction 5 days later. 

By this time the snow was well on it's way to melting so there wasn't much left - but for me it was certainly a first seeing what was left of the snow on the beach. The mountains in the background have never looked so clear or so close. I wouldn't have missed this for the warmest of tropical locations on offer!

Snow Day!!

Or rather it would be if the kids were at school instead of home because it is the School Holidays.

The anticipated dump of snow eventuated & this morning I awoke to the wonderful still, muffled silence that only a good layer of snow blanketing the city can bring. Utter peace! I well recall the feeling of stillness & silence that only a decent layer of snow can bring & knew before I even looked out of the window that the snow had given us a something quite special to wake up to. I wasn't disappointed.

Today was quite magical - although I'm not so sure I will feel that way when it melts.

Levi had a blast - the dog who doesn't like to go out in the rain & get wet became the unstoppable snow dog. Cavorting around the back garden & racing circuits that quickly spoiled the pristine white covering.....racing too fast for me to capture on camera!

There were a few still moments though.

 Hesitant at first!

 Figures that it's safe to play & explore.

What's that? You say I need longer legs??

Gabriela took her Dad up on the offer of a ride up to Waipara & took my old small point & shoot camera with her. I would have loved to have been on that wee trip!

Snow - The Icing on the Quake

It's started snowing. Not something that happens that often here in Christchurch. After a brilliantly mild winter so far I'm not really surprised at this. Even the frosts have been lighter than they usually are at this time of year..... it hasn't even been cold enough for really hard frosts.

It's been trying to snow on & off all afternoon.....dull moody skies, the odd flakes of snow which couldn't really decided whether they wanted to be snow, sleet or rain. We've had that often enough - but it never seems to settle.

As of now it's officially snowing though, & what is more - it's settling!! This is quite exciting for a city that really doesn't get snow on any sort of regular basis. One decent dumping over a couple of inches that I can recall in the last 10 years doesn't tend to indicate snow being factored into our daily lives.

It will be interesting to see what happens if this continues & we get a good cover. I clearly remember the last time, in 1992, the power going out city wide & the most of the city pretty much grinding to a halt.

While this is a most welcome distraction to me - I can't help but wonder whether, with this city's compromised infrastructure, we are any better prepared power supply wise than we were back in 1992.

Watch this Space!! I'll update this post if anything spectacular happens within the next couple of hours :)

 

As it was a few minutes ago at 10.03pm

 

Edited to update:  11.30pm - It looks like it's settling :)

 Levi discovers SNOWWWWWW!

Rain, rain

go away! In between torrential downpours, which are unseasonably early if you ask me, we have snow on the Port Hills.

Clad in just jeans & a light weight jersey I wondered why it was so cold when I made the dash from front door to car this morning. As I pulled out of the driveway & looked up the road there was SNOW on the Port Hills. Snow....in May? Heck, it isn't even officially winter yet!

Christchurch doesn't get snow...well not much. We're lucky if it actually lands at sea level once during the season (and then none of the drivers know what to do because we are just so unused to it). Perhaps the Port Hills will get one or two light dustings .....but more likely in July or August. Not May!

C'mon Christchurch - give me those wonderful winter frosts! At least we get clear days with blue skies. I like neither the grey - nor the view from my windows upstairs when it rains like this.

You could almost think this was a lake....

But no - it's part of the neighbours backyard!

Just another problem caused by the City Councils desire to save the costs involved with letting a city sprawl onwards & outwards naturally - instead approving permits that allow unrealistic amounts of 'in-building' that can easily be connected to existing amenities.