spring in Manitoba

On the weekends, I try to let the professor sleep in a little bit. I often get up earlier than he does to let out the dogs. This is what greeted me last weekend at 7 or so in the morning--a nice sloppy spring snowscape. All of the accumulated winter snow had melted off previously, so this was just a fluke spring storm.

We could enjoy it because, well, we have a new roof and knew it would melt quickly! Yes, I still like snow. I like snow even AFTER living in Buffalo, which gets about 250 cm (about 100 inches) average a year! You can see in the picture that includes the streets that it wasn't too cold--the snow melted right off the streets but accumulated on the grassy areas.

Last night was the start of Passover. Traditionally, I wouldn't be posting right now--it's a holiday--but I wanted to share our technological solution to the Passover Seder. The professor and I had never had a seder for just the two of us...it's meant to be a big event for family and friends. We've always traveled to be with family or had a full table of friends and family at our house. Just the idea of a two person seder got me sort of down. It was the most practical solution, of course, as I couldn't have managed to travel or cook a meal for a lot of people, but I still felt sad.

However, my dad's idea came to the rescue--we decided to use skype for our seder. Here is our modest set up for two at the dining room table. On the far left of the picture, you can see the computer...we skyped with my family in Virginia so we could all "be together" for the holiday. It's a non-traditional thing to do--the seder is not really a time for phones or the internet--but in this case, it allowed us all to be together. It was pretty special. Other things to note about our table this year:

1) The professor drank some of his homemade wine--hence the bottle with the weird blue label.
2) I got to eat Egg Matzah because I'm pregnant. (I like it and think it tastes better but usually stick to regular matzah on Passover because egg matzah is considered to be for the "infirm." I qualify this year!)
3) We used the matzah cover my grandmother embroidered for me--she finished it when I graduated from college. She was at my parents' seder and I was pleased as punch that she is still around to share a seder with me 16 years later!
4) We finished our seder very early, so I was off to sleep early as well...note it is still light outside in Winnipeg if you can see the window beyond the table.

All in all, a great solution for a challenging confluence of holidays, health, etc. Tonight, we're going to a friend's house for an informal second seder-I'm hoping I'll be able to stay awake!

Other random notes about spring time and your comments:
-Today, the professor reports he saw his first crocuses while walking the dogs. I thought he was joking but he said no, they were actually growing outside. Spring does eventually come to Winnipeg. Really.

-I'm still enjoying E.B. White's essays and am so pleased to pass along the recommendation to Alison and to discuss an oldie but goodie with Deb!

-Are the fix-its in my house finished? (Uhh, no. We live in an old house. They will never be finished.) There is someone coming this week to finish the painting on the third floor. After that, we will likely take a break on house repairs if nothing further goes wrong. There's still plenty to fix, but the chaos can be unsettling, and now is maybe not the time for further fixes. We're running out of money and patience for now!