It's winter. Time for winter madness.
And Carnaval de Quebec's annual race across the ice-choked St. Lawrence River.
The Ottawa Winter Commute moves to the Rideau Canal. The ice is flooded and swept nightly, creating the longest skating surface in the world.
In Wyoming it's not just cold. It's ass-biting cold.
Vermont: Why people vacation in Mexico.
Winter sky: Why birds go south in winter.
Queensboro bridge in New York City from the Government Island aerial tram. Cold metal, frozen city, dark cold East River.
Schooner Constantia wintering in Stockholm.
Of course, you don't have to be gloomy in winter. New York City store windows shine for the holidays.
In Seattle we don't get much in the way of winter.
And when we do, we're reduced to whining, panic and dread. Other parts of the world handle snow quite well, with a minimum of hysterics. Here are a few of my favorite winter images from places where they know how to do winter right.
I was talking to a friend who lives in Boston and asked him if he was having a "snow day."
"We never have snow days," he tells me. From the first hint of snow, the city's snow plows, snow blowers, citizen plow vehicles and transit get ready to keep the roads clear. The kids bundle up like some character from "South Park." The subway runs. The buses run. There are no closures.
Is the nature of our snow different? It is not. Good four-wheel drive vehicles are no match for people with sedans and bald tires who block the roads, standing next to their cars, shrugging. Ice? Who knew?
