Nov.16th
(the view outside my office window on a drier day)
I seem to be focusing on weather lately, as is everyone else living in southwest BC. Yesterday's massive storm topped all previous storms of this stormy month! Powerful winds and heavy rain caused all kinds of havoc. Ferries shut down, highways, houses and powerlines were hit by falling trees. By late Wednesday afternoon, 210,000 BC Hydro customers were without power, including one daughter's place in Surrey. It even caused a four-storey building under construction in East Vancouver to collapse and has left 125,000 still without power today. Port Alberni on Vancouver Island was hit particularly hard. I think the Hydro crews deserve a huge thank you for the hours and days of dangerous work they are doing to remove fallen trees and restore power.
Thankfully we haven't been affected in any serious way. The only impact for me has been that the Capilano College campus was shut down yesterday and today because of a water main break, so I haven't been able to go and work in the studio. Hopefully all will be repaired for tomorrow. Weather-wise it will be a normal damp November with no storms until the next one on Sunday.
November 16th will always be an especially significant day for us, thanks to the birth of our second grandchild and my art opening one year ago. I loved one commenter calling it "an opening act"! We will be at a special little birthday party this afternoon, then we meet dear friends for dinner. Since they moved to Victoria we only see each other once in a while, so it will be a real treat. A special day ahead!
UPDATE NOV.17th: On the way out yesterday, we heard that Greater Vancouver residents have been advised to boil their water or use bottled water! Then this morning's Vancouver Sun features huge headlines on the front page Two million told: Don't drink the water. "One of the largest water warnings in the province's history was issued Thursday for Greater Vancouver's two million residents after torrential rains triggered dozens of landslides into the region's reservoirs, turning tap water cloudy and brown." Now the city of Nanaimo has the same advisory. This may last for a while with Sunday's expected storm.
At the restaurant last night, we were unable to get our usual glasses of tap water, instead having to purchase bottled water. No tea or coffee either! I wondered if the kitchen did not know how to boil water, heh. Anyway, yes, we had a wonderful time at the birthday and then meeting our friends. Guess what we talked about - the weather!
Marja-Leena | 16/11/2006 | 18 comments
themes: Being an Artist, Current Events
What? You only started exhibiting a year ago? Well done!
"Weather-wise it will be a normal damp November with no storms until the next one on Sunday."
HAHA, got that right! :)
I'm all stocked up with candles until next Christmas, I think!
These days I just can't stop taking photographs of leaves! Both this one and your last make me want to get out and take some more.
Peter - Oh, no, I've been exhibiting over 20 years, including solo exhibitions. (Check out my CV link up at the top left.) Sorry I gave the wrong impression there somehow.
Erika, you had your challenges with the power outage!
Patry, can you not help seeing leaves everywhere this time of the year? I always look forward to seeing your photos on your blog!
Was just reading about the storm and wanted to check to make sure you and yours are all OK. Happy "birthday" yesterday - glad you had a good party in spite of the weather and destruction!
Hope this awful weather calms down for you soon. Wasn't Vancouver supposed to have mild and trouble-free winters? I don't remember anything like what you're describing when I was there, maybe it's all due to world-wide climate change?
Hope you've stocked up on bottled water.
Beth, thanks for your concern and good wishes. We're okay here, very fortunate in not having any disasters in our neighbourhood.
Natalie, November is our worst month for rain and storms usually. We get these so-called Pineapple Expresses from the South Pacific, or the colder ones from Alaska. That's life on the wet coast. Overall, it's still the mildest climate in Canada. I've read that with climate change, we're to get fiercer storms though. As for bottled water, I've yet to get out to do the shopping so in the meantime I'm boiling tap water. Some stores are running out of supplies with this unexpected surge in demand. So, London hasn't had any fall storms yet?
Last time I was in Vancouver the weather was gorgeous — it was summertime, of course! I'm glad that you've had lovely, warm social occasions to warm the heart if not the body in the midst of such rough weather. Happy "anniversary"!
MB, thanks! How nice to know you've been to Vancouver, and lucky you had good weather then. Say, I just noticed that you are the writer of the 2000th comment on this blog! I should give you a prize...
Hei ML..
We've been concerned about you, hubby and family the past few days too. No response to our e-mails meant a couple of sleepless nights. The weather patterns for North America have changed dramatically over the past 50 years and you might be seeing some palm trees or ice-bergs in the next 50 or so. Anyway, we feel some relief from reading your posting. A belated Happy Birthday is also extended to you folks. Please send a mail when it's convenient eh! Take care.
Hei, Rog! Thanks for your concern, we're dry and safe, just having to boil our water, is all! Did you send an email or three since the 13th that I didn't get???
Hi there, Marja-Leena! I am so glad you're staying dry. Where I live, we only have extremes of weather it seems -- drought, flood, tornadoes, hail, baking heat, etc. So it is often The Topic of conversation.
Thanks for visiting/commenting...and it would help me so much to remember to visit you if I could link to your site. Would that be okay with you?
(Love the leaf photos, BTW.)
Gads, Marja-Leena. I hope the weather patterns change soon out there.
Hi Lori! Yikes, sounds like these extremes happen down your way more often than here, so we better stop complaining! Weather makes for interesting conversation. Oh, I'd be very pleased if you linked to me. You know, I have a newsreader that shows when blogs are updated - saves a lot of time! And you've been on there for some time, but must add you to my links list too.
Hi Leslee - I certainly hope so too!!
When my sweetie left for work this morning, I said, "By jove, it's sunny!" And it still is. I should go for a walk. The sunshine made the fluorescent bulb we just put in one lamp look so green and blah. It's nice out there for a change. It was the opposite not too long ago: 6 days of sun, 1 day of rain, 6 days of sun... boy, we sure made up for it!
Hey Erika, send some of that sunshine over here! It barely peeked through some clouds for a moment there. At least it hasn't rained yet today and we were able to do some much-needed yard cleanup. Did you hear about the storm coming overnight and tomorrow?
Reminds me of my ten years living in Oregon, except the storms were usually not so strong. We used to routinely get six weeks straight of non-stop rain. After I left I've missed the NW rain a lot for some reason. It gets under your skin... sometimes literally!
Hi Butuki! Six weeks of non-stop rain sounds familiar! One does get used to it. As I mentioned earlier, November is the wettest month around here with a few storms. This time it seems that we are getting a lot of them, one after another in a short period. I find them rather exciting, so long as everyone is safe. In fact, our favourite retreat/holiday destination is the Tofino area on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Many visitors go there to see the winter storms, nature in all its mighty glory. I think you would like it there.