Slush
Vancouver snow can have many phases in a single day. Morning revealed the delight of fresh snow, an equal and forgiving cover of all things. Snow rarely lasts here, but slush can look clean and beautiful, as it does on this green crosswalk.
The next phase is water. As the temperature rises, the melting snow can't move down the storm drains fast enough. Downtown, slushy lakes formed at the curbs. Too wide to jump over, they obliged me to wade. Even though I sprayed my winter boots thoroughly in the summer, they soon began to take on water. By the time I got home, they were soaked through.
By tomorrow morning, most if not all of this snowfall will be gone.
We will recall only its transient innocent whiteness, an interval confirming the arrival of winter.
It will be back to business as usual for a Vancouver winter: rainy grey skies.