Wait Five Minutes...

 If you live anywhere in Canada, you've probably heard people say "Wait five minutes and the weather will change."  That has been especially true these past couple of days.  We did have stable weather with  lots of snow and freezing temperatures from December 23rd until New Years Eve - snow that lasted far too long for my liking and shut down the town. But we all knew it wouldn't last.

Maggie didn't mind the snow - she thinks someone 
has blanketed the world with ice cream - and eats it every chance she gets.

That stable air mass ended night before last.  Strong winds brought down branches, rain washed away some of the snow and ice.  And then last night,  more rain.  And suddenly the roads were driveable, the sidewalks walkable, the grass was visible, the garbage was collectable, and the mail was deliverable. That is, unless you lived a few miles north, south, or west of me. Then you had power failures, more snow, and sheets of ice on the roads.  

But here?  After a week of being confined, it felt like freedom! I restocked the groceries, returned library books, picked up Maggie's yogurt and supplements. And then I thought I'd take Maggie to the park.  Except the park I wanted to go to was closed - due to flooding!  Instead, we drove home, parked the car, and decided to walk the neighbourhood.

And that's when the "wait five minutes" rule came into play.  We left in beautiful sunshine.  A block away, it started to snow.  Heavily.  Another block and the sun was back.  Then some rain.  Then sun AND rain together.  Then snow AND sun together.  Then winds.  Then wind and sleet.  In a simple 20-30 minute walk we experienced a half dozen different weather systems.  

When we got home, I waited five minutes for the sun to return once more and then grabbed my camera, hoping to take some photos of rapidly melting icicles on a condo behind our complex.  The sun was dazzling. The icicles were sparkling.  I wanted to capture their beauty. I wanted to practice manual settings on the new camera.  I attached the zoom lens and checked the light on some nearby trees - trees free of snow, green against blue sky lightly covered with white and grey clouds. Or so I thought.

Two minutes later - while I was adjusting some settings on my camera in order to capture the melting icicles, those trees went from green to this:

I cried Uncle to the weather gods, and decided it was a good afternoon to stay indoors.  I practiced a few more camera settings with Maggie as my model. 

And then we decided to curl up with some music and have a nap by the fire.  An electric fire.  The power better not go out with the next wind squall - five minutes from now.