Winter Views After the Storm

Text and photos (c) 2010 by Robert Barry Francos

Most of these photos, taken after the February snow storm, were in a garden scupture shop. I've always loved snow on statues and the like, as they are organically sculpted in their own right by nature. The last photo is of the Broadway Bridge. Photos can be enlarged by double-clicking them.

Winter is Here and It's Going on Two Years Swallow My Pride: A Photo Essay

Text and photos (c) Robert Barry Francos

Since I live in the Prairies of Canada now, people assume it is always cold and always snowy, but actually, the motto here is "Saskatoon Shines!" because we get more sunlight than almost anyplace else in the country. But we do have our snow days, such as the blizzard that flew through a few days ago. Here are some of my shots (photos can be enlarged by clicking on them):

[When opening the front, there was a lip that was against the door]
[The front steps]
[After digging us out]
[Snow "cave" nature-driven sculpture on the back of a car on the street]
[Our back porch; note the height of the snow on the table and benches]


[Frost on our rear upper window; on the second, you can see the snow on the roof of the addition, just past the window]

[The ice coming over the weir as seen from the Railway Bridge, overlooking the South Saskatchewan River, facing south (Saskatoon is also known as the "City of Bridges")]

[Railway Bridge pylon caked with ice, looking straight down]
[Statue at the University that looks cold; I love white snow on a black scuplture]

Blizzard Flying

Text © Robert Barry Francos

I first heard about the big impending snowstorm of March 2, 2009, that was to hit New York City, when Donna Shewolf mentioned it on Facebook. I was in central Canada and checked into 1010wins.com.

My flight was set to fly out at 6:30 AM, land in Toronto, and then at noon head to LaGuardia (LGA), get there at 1:30, and head on home to Brooklyn by public transport. But the travel gods had other plans.

Before we left for the airport, I called Air Canada (AC) and said, “Hey, I’m already here, should we change the ticket, make life easier for both of us?” I was told no problem, the planes are both scheduled as On Time. When we got to the airport and I had to check in, I said again, “Hey, I’m already here, should we change the ticket, make life easier for both of us?” I was once again told no problem, the planes are both scheduled as On Time.

The plane to Toronto left 10 minutes late and arrived 5 minutes early. So far so good. Once through customs, I got to my gate with 15 minutes to spare. There is a Tim Horton’s close at the next gate down the terminal, and I remember I have a $2 coupon. I go get an X-Large French Vanilla coffee that ends up costing me 22 cents (Canadian).

By the time I got back to my gate 10 minutes later, I find the flight to LGA is cancelled. I called AC on a white courtesy phone and was rebooked to a 13:30 (1:30 PM). Standing on line at the courtesy desk to pick up my new boarding pass, I hear the people in front of me getting stand-by tickets to the same flight. Okay, I’m feelin’ lucky. At this point I called my partner back in Canada to fill her in, and then head to my gate waaaaaay on the other side of the terminal. But then again, I was in no rush.

Getting there in plenty of time, I relaxed, wrote a future blog (yes, I write them first long-hand many times), and waited. And waited. The board had a new time of 15:00. Then 15:30. I wrote a second blog. At 14:30, they announced we would be leaving earlier than expected so get ready to board. At 15:10, they gave our plane away to a flight going to Houston. At 15:20, they announced that the flight was cancelled.

As the moving sidewalks only seem to go to the gates, I walked all the way back to the white phones, just past the courtesy desk and placed my call to AC. They had nada; the next few flights were also cancelled, and the rest for the night were booked solid. What about a hotel voucher? Nope, seems as the delay is weather related, it is not AC’s responsibility (even though the only reason I was there was based on AC’s word in the first place). So, basically, they’re condemning me to sleep at the airport, where all chairs have arm rests and it is impossible to stretch out. Oops, sorry! Well, what about going to Newark rather than LGA? Oh, there’s one at 18:30! She puts me on that flight.

Back to the courtesy desk to pick up the new new boarding pass. The wait on the line was long, but what’s the rush, right? I finally get up the counter and find out that I’m listed as stand-by for the Newark flight. Day-am! The person at the counter informs me that there is an earlier flight to Newark that’s just as full, so she puts me on stand-by for both. My last chances.

The first one is scheduled for a 16:30 take-off, with a delay to 17:30. While I am waiting, and being a good boy, I’m thinking, “Please! Let me on the damn plane! I’ve been in this ferstinkiner airport since 11:00 AM! Please!”

The plane boards and my name is not called. So I walk over to the person at the gate podium and give him my ticket, saying, “I’m on stand-by. Is there any chance?” He checks the computer, and squeezes me on! It’s 17:30 but I’m finally on my way…

…To the tarmac, where we sit. “We’ll be taking off at 18:15.” “Wheels up at 19:00.” “After another 50 minutes, at 19:50, we’ll be going!” And we sit on the plane. They give us a small bag of fried corn nuts. And one of those small glasses of water (first class gets coffee). I’m hungry at this point.

While we sit, I start this blog, intermittently reading a book my partner lent me called Letters From the Sourdough Bagel. The assumption is that it’s a Jewish author, but ends up he’s a minister. With a title like Bagels yet; go figure. Still the book is full of short pieces that sound an awful lot like blogs.

At 19:45, we actually take off.
We are at the Newark terminal at 21:30, and the $15 bus to Manhattan comes at 21:45.
At 22:30, I’m at the 42 Street station near Bryant Park, with the train arriving at 22:40, and then proceeds to go local all through Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Home at 23:50, say hello to the cats, phone my partner to let her know I’m still alive, and grab a quick bite of tuna salad.
I’m feeling restless, so I decide to put up this blog at 3:00 AM, even though I’m tired. And after I’m done, it’s to bed, perchance to dream…the rest is silence…until 8:00 AM when I have to wake up and start my day.