snowmen and squirrels

the year feels so old already, like i'm well in it by now. the snow and cold have made a classic demarcation line, so it's been real winter for a bit. and, as it goes with beginnings, i'm trying to see the bright side of it. yes, there is a bright side: - 18 and very very sunny, on a sitting-at-home-eating-chili day. but there's also this:

the very fat and happy-looking snowman i made with the fresh snow right after new year's. this had been one of my christmas wishes (alas :( ) and new year's resolutions:)

he's just guarding the door to my annex. my mum was like "who makes a snowman on the balcony?!" - i think whoever has snow enough on their balconies might want to consider it. the snow was still pretty dry, but it caught after some insistence, and my gloves are so good they barely got wet. the hardest part is getting the separate body sections to stick together, which is why i'll never attempt a proper 3-ball type of snowman. but it was really satisfying. haven't made one since 2012.  

this is how the streets get cleaned: huge mountain of snow right in front of mont-royal metro stop, in the heart of the city. am used to it by now, but still think it's funny. 

and the snow-eater, la deneigeuse, on the first day of 2016, edge of parc jarry. 

i feel i might have said it before, parc jarry is one of the greatest places in the world. last week, on a sunny afternoon, with a field full of snowmen in good photo-taking light. like a graveyard? no, more like an old snowmen's home.

they were clearly a few days old, and some had suffered through a lot of temperature changes and people's attention

i hate mugging for the camera and then i go and do it anyway, eyeroll. 

some of my favourite snowmen: the one in dire need of support, and the one sleeping in the shade of a tree. i also admired the use of dry vegetation for hair

cutest kid on the block. 

also from the park last week:

- a tobogganing story which i hope is still developing. there's a tobogganing slope in parc jarry, which seems surprising because the surface is mostly flat - maybe part of it is artificially made, i can't tell; anyway, there was much noise and rejoicing around there on jan 1 st, and then, on closer investigation, apparently there are plastic toboggans available on top of the slope just for the taking. truth is i was too shy to go sliding in front of all those happy kids and their parents, but ok, there's at least two more months of snow, so we'll see.

- squirrels! now you know i love squirrels, who does't? except for people who have outdoor plants. the thing about a mild winter is, so far these poor animals haven't gotten the memo that IT'S WINTER ALREADY, and have kept eating to prepare for hibernation, and are, consquently, very fat,  and also more and more entitled. i don't even want to know what's happening in parks in the Plateau (la fontaine, st-louis), when in parc jarry 6-7 fat squirrels surround you with no shame expecting food...what has the world come to? 

hi there, buddy, no biscuits for you!
really unique moment, and the closest a squirrel has gotten to me ever. 

nope, you are very cute, but no biscuits, i said.