Top news story just now, once again, is the weather. Here in Calgary we passed November with a great, false sense of security. 'Twas lovely, day after day, with above seasonal temperatures. The sun shone and the pavement was dry.

On December 1, it was as if we turned the calendar page and the new picture was a snow scene. Snow, wind, and below normal temperatures.

Today I shoveled and shoveled. Three foot drifts. Our garage door, which faces a (never-plowed) back alley, had a big one in front. To get anywhere we depend on people on the alley owning large SUVs. We follow their tracks.

Streets in residential neighborhoods, except for main ones, will not be plowed. The city does not do them. People here, in the extreme, prefer low taxes. Instead, we wait for chinooks--hoping they melt what has fallen before the next snowfall. And if, as happened last winter, chinooks tarry, one must be resourceful. Carry a shovel, buy snow tires, or (as we did today to buy milk) walk. If your vehicle happens to be four-wheel drive, blessed art thou.

Besides chinooks, the other thing we count on is the fact that, on average, less snow falls than most places in Canada. Months go by with no precipitation to speak of and you begin to think you live in a charmed place. But you would be mistaken and one day forecasters are saying things along the lines of what they said Nov. 30 when they said an Alberta clipper was coming. Almost the whole province would be hit, they said. So be prepared.

At least, as we sit here this Saturday evening, we are warm. And maybe by Monday we will have seen a snow plow on a street near us.

And maybe, even, in seven to ten days, we will be having another...chinook!