Where to begin? Well, I suppose the beginning is just as good a place to begin as any, given that I'm the type that prefers simple chronology over more complicated filing systems such as autobiographical or alphabetical, which really don't work well given the forum and content anyway.

In an amazing turn of events, life on PEI became slightly exciting over past few days. The frontpage headline in Friday's paper read 'Brutal blizzard batters PEI'. And while the Guardian's sophisticaetd use of alliteration is enough to make heads turn, indeed 'White Juan' was the to talk of the Maritimes.

It all started innocently enough sometime during Wednesday night, following my return from the flcik Calendar Girls. BTW - Excellent movie and even more interesting audience demographics - droves of 'mature ' women, a few reluctant husbands, and the odd young person (that's me..youngish & oddish) By Thursday morning it was a bona fide blizzard, a heavy blanket of snow had already fallen and it wasn't showing any sign of relenting. Spent the day cozied up by woodstove. Mid-afternoon saw first devastation of mammoth proportions, when phone (and thus Internet) unexpectedly went dead.

Friday, with the blizzard pretty much on its way to wreak havoc somewhere else and the sun peeping out, it almost seemed like things were back tom normal. Save for the five foot drifts across the road and our own inpassable driveway.

Yes, it was brutal enough for the authorities to declare a 'Stae of Emergency'. Now I wasn't sure what exactly they meant by 'state of Emergency', but I was pretty sure it was more serious than my Shannon State of Emergency critera which include one or more of the following: missing glove/purse/keys/CD/item of clothing/etc., ready to go out and then discover empty bottle of hair gel, exploding/fizzy bottle of Pepsi in workstation area with expensive laptop computer, missing computer disk with shanified documents on it.

Well, as it turns out State of Emergency basically means 'don't go out unless it is absolutey essential (e.g. having a baby, wife is having a baby and its the first, are delivering a baby). It's not that 'essential' equated with ' I just have to get out of here....I'm going crazy with boredom.' So..another day at home..another day with no phone.

Saturday saw first semblance of normal life return with jaunt into town for aerobics class and grocery shopping. It was also my first opoortuntiy to make contac with outside world..so I did what anyone in my place would have done, I called Keri. We made tentative plans to go out to the Olde Dublin that night (and yes, is just as good as any Irish pub I've been to.. save for the lack of interesting males..on the upside - no smoke and cheap beer) Am going to skip a whole lot of details here as they are of no consequence to the story, but suffice to say, I am now certain that Keri is a true friend :)

Things are pretty much back to normal. For now. Who knows what March will bring us..aside from lots of green beer, the 'official' beginning of spring, and multiple panic attacks related to meeting deadlines, doing income taxes and looking into the future.

Well, I guess that about wraps up this edition of 'Stormwatch 2004'. And ya know what, for all the inconveniences that this blizzard brought with it and all the havoc it created...I'm reminded of two things:

1. It really is great to be a Canadian and have four seasons. There isn't any other place I'd rather be right now (I have a feeling this sentimentality won't last too long).

2. Mother Nature really does have the greater power. We humans just have to hunker down, batten the hatches and learn to deal with it as best we can. There's no outsmarting nature.