Snow Kidding!

Yeah yeah, bad pun, but I couldn't think of a better title. You'll have to forgive me, I'm tired and my brain is so fried it's turning to charcoal.

The snow's still on the ground. They still haven't cleared it. In they're minds, they're doing the proper thing, and I don't fault them for that. But I'm so sick of watching every step I take when I open the front door. It's just solid ice. They throw rock salt on it, and when the ice starts to melt, the water and slush doesn't go anywhere, so it freezes over the rock salt, defeating the purpose.

People here walk around like it's not that big of a deal, but I have this theory that as someone who's grown up with Jersey winters (and remembers that big storm from like eight and a half years ago) is intimately acquainted with what slipping on ice and falling feels like. Or maybe it's just my very real (and justified) fear of falling. I hate falling. Messes up the whole damned day afterwards.

The buses are a bit temperamental in this weather, but I did manage to do a bit of sightseeing despite the snow. I wandered into St. Stephen's Green. I walked around a bit back in September, but I thought I might try it again in the snow. A lot less people, a lot less walkway space, and an amazing sense of peace. There's something about snow that just makes me feel peaceful sometimes.

Have you ever walked around in a flurry, not when it first starts, but when it's starting to really get going, before it turns into a full snow storm? After the excitement and thoughts of "SNOW!" fade away, but before the loathing and thoughts of "Oh crap, where did I leave that stupid shovel??" Or even just right after it all stops. When there's almost no movement, and even the animals found somewhere warm to hide. Theres a few moments of peace and quiet, when all I want to do is put on warm clothing and fling myself backward into the pile and stare at the sky and contemplate things.

That moment, I can't explain how much I love it. There's just this amazing feeling of being, where there's no good or bad, there just is. It's peace. It's quiet. It's remembrance. It's hope. I didn't get to really have it this time because of the on and off snow flurries, and the ice issues, but walking around St Stephen's Green, and later Phoenix Park, I got pretty damn close.

I've been wound up all day and I still don't know why, but remembering that moment, I'm calm now. I think I can finally sleep. I posted pictures of St. Stephen's Green and Phoenix Park on both Picasa and Facebook in the Dublin albums. I've reached a moment of zen for me. You can find the links on the link page. I'm feeling to lazy now.

Night all, sláinte.