Surviving the Snow

The forecast saying "snow thru Tuesday" kept being amended as the southerlies continued.  It snowed, then rained, then snowed again.  There was also lightning! Wellingtonians had not seen snow like this since 1976, and they were excited about it, at least initially.  The snow got almost as much news coverage as rugby early in the week.   On Monday our heat pump went out, so I have spent much of the week huddled by the space heater, waiting for Hamish, the repairman. I learned a few new weather terms, including "graupel" which is something between a hailstone and a snowflake which is what was out there for the most part.  Volunteer orientation at the hospital was canceled, as our orient-er was stuck in snow somewhere.  Some of you kept me a little saner by keeping the email coming, for which I am grateful.   Finally, on Thursday, Hamish and his assistant showed up and diagnosed the problem, but the fix will require multiple steps, so I'm thinking it may be mid-week before we're back in business heat-wise.  Things are pretty laid back around here, for better and for worse.

Thursday night we headed out to the grocery store and a cafe but were not inspired to do much more, what with the wind and driving rain.  Last night, though, we braved the brisk wind to go to City Gallery to hear the Cantorus Choir sing some unearthly beautiful music by an Estonian composer named Arvo Part.    The City Gallery has an exhibit up called Oceania, with portraits and art of Pacific Islanders hung all around the walls.  The combination of the beautiful music and the art was haunting.

Fortunately, there was a little sun this morning, and this (above) was the view from a couple of steps out our front door.  We have been nesting.  Most of the really good food we've had here so far is what we have cooked at home (also true in Gso, plus that cooked by Paul and at potlucks with the usual suspects), so this week's highlights included lamb chops with curried rice and fresh spinach and cauliflower pasta.  John has baked his first loaf of bread in our convection oven, and I have managed to light the gas stove without blowing anything up (so far).  We have also been cleaning, trying to determine what is dirt and what is wear.  Got library cards and new "fly-by" cards by which we can collect points (to what end I'm uncertain). The new guitar has gotten a little use this week too.

Friday, when it stopped pouring for 15 whole minutes at a time, I went swimming at the Freyburg Pool, which is about ten minutes' walk away.  Apparently, it's been a Wellington institution for quite some time, since my fortyish neighbor tells me she remembers swimming there with her family when she was 3.  It's quite the architectural marvel too, so I'm including two views:  one of the front, which shows you the portholes which let the light in throughout and another of the view from the side which shows the glass wings that enable people who are swimming and working out to look out on the harbor.

Our lime-green Suzuki Swift has been replaced by a more tasteful and subdued but harder to spot silver one, and we set out in it this morning, determined to find our way through the hysteria-inducing roundabouts to the post office to pick up the small watercolor prints of Oriental Bay we had ordered from a local artist on TradeMe, hopefully without dying or killing any pedestrians. Success!  The plan for the rest of the day is to visit an exhibit of award-winning photos by journalists at the Museum of City and Sea and to check out the Ortega Fish Shack for an anniversary dinner (34!).  Like Doc Watson says, "I don't care how hard it rains, the clouds are gonna roll away" eventually.