Known for its temperate climate and nearly snowless winters, my hometown of Vancouver is busy bundling up. Instead of its usual rain, rain and more rain (thinkย  driving, drizzle, misty, showers, light, spitting… we get so much of it, we’ve got an extensive vocabulary to describe it) we’ve instead been in the grips of a cold-snap and recently got a dump of snow with another snow storm forecasted. When we do get snow, it usually lasts for a couple days and then it’s gone. Not this year. Although it makes driving more treacherous, it does look beautiful and the bigger dogs love it. Like children, they’re romping, rolling and digging in it. I was on my usual morning walk with Kaya (who, btw, gets bundled up in her winter jacket to protect her old bones/joints), when I passed by a monument that our parks board has placed on the side of the pathway. It consists of a large boulder that has a short essay on the subject of rain etched into its face.ย  I usually pass by this familiar landmark without much of a glance, but it made me laugh to see that someone had placed a miniature snowman on top of it, sending an opposing message to that of its rainy inscription. (see photo below). ย 

The morning dog-walk in a winter wonderland: