BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

As anyone who lives in Saskatchewan knows, we have some of the most spectacular weather phenomena known to man.  Even our license plates proclaim it – “Land of the Living Skies”.  There’s a never ending variety of wind, rain, sun, clouds, thunder and lightning, heat waves and cold snaps.  If Saskatchewanites had a family motto it might well be “Bring It On!”

We can handle anything Mother Nature can throw at us. 

In fact, we revel in it.

This sense of bravado is rooted in all the mighty and majestic storms we have weathered over the years.  We can handle blizzards – there’s something about being shut in while the wind howls and the storm rages that makes a house seem extra safe and warm. 

A few years ago we were awe struck at how even the ‘flat’ prairies can have massive overland flooding if it pours for 24 hours straight.

A couple weeks at 40 below zero?  Been there, done that.

A couple weeks at nearly 40 above?  Same.

Tornados to topple buildings and toss trampolines around?  Yep.

Hail storms where the ice strips paint and siding off houses, breaks windows, and wrecks vehicles.  You bet.

My Facebook memories this morning showed me that 2 years ago my grandsons, dressed in full winter gear, sat atop a four foot snow bank, but 3 years ago the dog and I took a walk on a warm afternoon – no snow, light jacket, barbeque for supper, but both on December 8.  Such is the land we live in.

For sure Mother Nature can play hard ball, but this past week she upped her game.  She soft-gloved it.  You might say she gave us a Trojan Horse, and while we were ooohing and ahhing about her magnificence she laughed and punched out our lights.  Literally, in December, there we were, sitting cold, in the dark.

The treat she began with was several days of fog and no wind.  If you live somewhere that has never seen hoar frost I can’t describe its beauty.  I’ve tried, but words just don’t do it justice.  The fog crystallizes on every surface it touches – grasses, trees, buildings, fences – dazzling white diamond-like crystals making the whole world look like an exquisitely decorated wedding cake.  The longer the foggy conditions last, the thicker the frost grows.  By last weekend it was probably two inches thick; everyone went out and took pictures before the sun melted it off.  That’s what usually happens; the sun melts it off.

Instead, Mother Nature left it – seeing as so many people were enjoying her handiwork.  And the power lines sagged.  And the power poles leaned and began to bend.  And the Sask Power workers prayed for sunshine.

At 8:30 on Tuesday morning the power stuttered a couple times and then shut off.  Breakfast was over, lunch was sandwiches, supper was barbeque.  Afternoon project was setting up the generator to run a couple heaters, a lamp, and to charge our cell phones.  We spent the evening wrapped in blankets, planning Wednesday’s trip for more fuel if need be, but 13 hours after it went off our power was restored.

Wednesday’s outage wasn’t as long and we were lucky – we had just finished a nice warm supper.

Thursday’s happened in the morning while I was at work on my computer.  By that time I was pretty much over the thrill of ‘roughing it’, and I had stuff to do!  We are so crippled with no electricity!

It’s Saturday now, the sun has been shining, and the weight on the lines has been lessened, thank goodness.  We are beginning to trust that this fun experience is behind us, and that maybe we won’t have to reset every clock in the house yet again (isn’t it crazy how it’s the little things that get to you?).  We also appreciate that for those 13 hours while we huddled in our cozy blankets constantly checking our phones for updates, the work force of Sask Power was out in the cold and dark getting us back online – can’t say thank you enough!

And to Mother Nature – that was a good one!  Very clever of you.  Giving us the breathtakingly beautiful scenery of hoar frost, and while we were blown away with the splendor, you pulled the plug on us just to remind us who’s the boss. 

You gave us Beauty, who turned out to be the Beast.