Snow in the Lower Mainland

Ice along the shallow coast of Mud Bay.

Powdered fields of South Surrey.

The spots and shine on Pitt River.

The snow around Christmas time stuck around till the first week of January, occasionally refreshing itself in brief bouts here and there.  Though the region unused to such a meteorological phenomenon might curse the snow as a nuisance (especially on roadways), I took this rare opportunity to go up in a small plane and get some photos.  Who knows when we might get snow like this again?

Sharp light on measured grey tiles.

Two trips within the first week; the first on a loop south from Delta to White Rock, Langley, Pitt Meadows, Indian Arm, skirting the mountains and over Vancouver.  The second trip again from Delta to Langley, and stayed east onto Chilliwack where we stopped for pie at the Airport Coffee Shop that is famous for its pies.

The only bright color now.

As usual I prefer the natural landscapes, but even urban areas seemed calmed by the dusting of white.  The frozen colors were an interesting change in the palette of our usual blue, brown and green.  The diffused light of the gentle blue sky shot along the winding Serpentine and Nicomekl Rivers like a platinum snake, a slowly undulating highlight on the ice following alongside us as the plane moved.  The ice in the sea and large rivers looked like mottled marble stone.  Ponds were a milky green,  Marshy and solid parts of the same field were more distinct, whether the snow melted or 'stuck'.  The blueberry fields were a soft rosy pink from the once deep red of autumn.  Deciduous forests looks like black bristles on a boar's back.  Even the industrial land looked prettier when the mud brown was a clean white.