New Year's Eve was spent at home, watching a video and eating homemade pasta. The snow continued and was changeable , sometimes becoming a light rain, and sometimes becoming big fat flakes. There was a lot of weight being added to the trees, and around 11pm things started to give way. Several bombs of snow, ice and fir needles landed on our roof, shaking the whole house. Predictably, the power flickered several times and then went out at about 1:00am on New Year's Day.



At the stroke of midnight, I stepped out on to the deck and took in the auditory soundscape. The snow was silent, but from far away a din rose from Vancouver where every boat in the harbour was sounding it's whistle. It was eerie hearing it drift across the water in the silent snowstorm. There has been no wind to speak of and the cold air carries sound with crystal clarity.



After a good's night sleep, we decided to spend New Year's Day in a traditional Canadian manner, by putting on swim trunk and driving over to Bowen Bay for the annual Polar Bear swim. At the stroke of 2:00pm, Aine, myself and about thirty other Bowen Islanders headed QUICKLY into the frigid North Pacific for a swim. It was freezing cold. After getting out and drying off, we warmed ourselves around a huge beach bonfire and sipped Shaftsbury Ale and caught up with friends.



Happy New Year to all.