Snow is both annoying and awesome. It’s the same with all local universal changes in weather, and other things. It really intensifies the social fabric.

Yesterday I was in a major hurry (me? no.) and was having trouble getting out of a parking spot and a guy jumped out of his car and offered a push.

Today a car rolled through an intersection and would have smoked me, except it was kind of in slow motion so I had plenty of time to stop, but I gave him a look and he rolled down the window and asked “what should I have done there” but not in an aggressive way. So I said “Stop sooner. Go slower. Lessons from Eastern Canada” and another guy overheard and started a conversation with me about Ontario that was about how hard it is to know how to drive in winter conditions and not about how Vancouver drivers suck.

I walked home with a friend because it seemed less dangerous than vehicles and mild enough to be pleasant. The air is really clear and crisp. And even though I was in sneakers and slush and my feet were cold and a bit wet, it was an amazing walk that I would have missed out on otherwise. It totally slowed me down, which is a great and necessary thing at times.

Some lady’s umbrella snagged my sweater and we had to untangle. The guy that dropped his phone in a puddle in front of me shouted profanities at random people. All of these random interactions are created by a common experience, and seem to increase when there’s an additional thing we’re all dealing with. But maybe that’s also because it changes our habits and brings us in different ways to places. I rode the bus by myself for the first time in a while recently and I think it should be a civic duty to do that once a month if you don’t usually.

The other thing I realize is that having a home that I can be warm inside while writing about these observations is pretty freaking great. I hope February 16th isn’t like this, and I also kind of hope it is.