I know it can be quite tedious for readers of this blog to hear us saying – oooh look how different stuff it – all the time…

…having said that, here is a typical winter weekday morning in Fort Collins:

5.54 am text from university saying campus is closed for students and administrative staff today (but not for research staff like me) because of all the snow (we had 4 inches of snow yesterday daytime and another 4 inches last night).

7.30 am contemplate working from home / having a snow day, decide that need to do some work and love the snow so should go outside (though angry becuase can’t make snowballs as too dry).

7.35 am decide to drive in as too cold and slippery to cycle (-4 C) and can’t be bothered to wait for the bus (which still runs in the snow BTW).

8.00 am emerge from the apartment and realise that:

a) they have ploughed the roads during the night,

b) they have also cleared the sidewalk, (yes, ‘sidewalk’, not ‘pavement’)

c) our car is now trapped with a 3 foot layer of snow surrounding it.

8.25 am finish digging out the car, and regret wearing running shoes (as they are treaded and I have volleyball later) instead of walking shoes (which would have kept my ankles warm).

8.30 am call in my favourite coffee shop to get a fruit smoothie, because the cold never bothered me anyway.

8.40 am decide to park 10 minute walk from work as parking closer would require digging out my own space (smile at how quiet it is in the snow – no sound of mr train)

8.45 am help somebody with a front wheel drive car rock their car out of a space.

8.50 am laugh with international friends from work about snow and how crazily hot and humid it is in Brazil and Thailand where the other international student are from (fun fact 1: in Thailand, nobody has heaters in their home because it never gets cold enough to need them, fun fact 2: moving here is the first time my Brazilian friend had seen snow).

9.00 am establish that even though 8 inches of snow is enough to close campus, it is not enough to stop our volleyball recreational league match this evening, so that’s still on.

Rob