i am awesome...

we are hours away from the end of a year that i look forward to bidding a bon adieu. this is usually when people work overtime, finding fault in themselves, and making half-hearted promises to do better in the new year.

screw all that nonsense!

i cannot let the year end without mentioning that time i saved someone’s life in The Great Ice Storm of 2023. true story!

picture it. Montreal. mid-April...

that is when the ice and snow ends most years (although, it sometimes lasts well into May).

this time around, we were absolutely deluged with freezing rain days before a whole lot of people were planning to travel over the long Easter weekend. most of those plans got cancelled.

this was not snow, or even stinging pellets of hail. this was a steady, heavy shower of molten ice that crystalized the moment it hit anything. and it just kept on falling, encasing every surface it met in a solid shell of ice that was reported to be four centimeters (~ an inch and a half) thick in some areas. sheer madness!

then the bough broke... literally.  

it was like being at the center of an orchestra composed entirely of giant glass chandeliers being dropped from great heights. you could hear the buildup to every single crash from miles kilometers away. it was completely insane!

first there would be the ripple of ice cracking under the strain, followed by the explosive pop of massive branches snapping, and the frighteningly glorious crescendo of ice and wood shattering on sidewalks... and streets... and cars... and homes.

total madness!

there were official broadcasts of every type warning the public to remain indoors, and drivers were told to find a safe place to park their vehicles, and seek emergency shelter.

naturally, i was seriously tempted to grab my camera and head downstairs, but my Self-Preservation Society membership is paid in full, so i stayed put. [random aside: The Italian Job (1969) is one of my favorite films EVER, and i especially love all of the music! Getta Bloomin' Move On! (the Self-Preservation Society theme) is a thing of sheer genius. well done, Mr. Jones.]

where was i, again? oh, yes... i saved a person's life.

i went out on the balcony to try to get a few shots of the icy scenery. this was the view to the right...

to the left...

and looking up at the top of the massive old maple tree. 

this was when i noticed that a massive chunk of the old maple had mostly broken away from the tree, and it was just waiting for the slightest whisper of air to send it crashing to the ground. which happened at precisely that moment, as i stood there watching the spot where it would fall.

unfortunately, someone had just exited the building next door, and they were standing there, in that very same spot, head bent, staring at their phone.

luckily, the falling branch was being slowed in its descent by the tangle of lower tree limbs, leaving just enough time for me to scream LOOK OUT... which he did!

he jumped out of the way a split-second before the ice-coated branch exploded right where he was standing. part of it pulled his hoodie back from his head, and hooked onto the collar of his coat on the way down. dude was so stunned! he collected himself long enough to get out a shock-filled "merci", before turning to run back indoors.

that sounds pretty life-saving to me!

the situation was so dangerous, the Emergency Services were advising their own personnel to remain indoors. basically, if you needed 911... you were on your own! and, all you heard was the orchestra of chandeliers, accompanied now by a horn section, courtesy of all of the honking and blaring alarms from all the damaged cars. it was next-level atmospheric insanity.

then the power went off! almost half of Montreal was without power... for DAYS!

did i mention that it was meant to be a long holiday weekend? people will be telling how i survived the great ice storm of '23 stories for years to come. good times!

it took weeks for the power to be fully restored, and months for all of the debris to disappear. Montreal zoned out the use of wood-burning stoves and fireplaces several years ago, or we would have stockpiled enough logs to keep our fireplace blazing all Winter. le sigh!

most people's holiday plans were (naturally) cancelled, and many businesses and services that would have normally closed for the whole weekend, remained open to provide shelter for the public. even major fast food chains that would normally be closed on Easter Sunday, were asking any employees to come in to work so that they could provide food and a warm space for anyone who needed it.

imagine being a kid who got to spend Easter weekend eating free McNuggets. one person's chaotic nightmare is another person's Nirvana.

despite all the property damage, the storm proved to be a (relatively) harmless one. there were the usual vehicular pile-ups, thanks to black ice on... well... EVERYTHING! people around here understand the hazards of Winter storms, so they (mostly) heeded the warnings... except for one guy who simply could not wait for the ice to melt from his car... which was park under a very large, ice-covered tree. sadly, no one warned him to "LOOK OUT".

so, instead of pondering all the shoulda, woulda moments from a (mostly) underwhelming year, i choose to close it on a positive note. seriously, people... i saved someone's life!

yes. i am awesome!

Happy New Year!!! hopefully it will be a better one.

(those are swollen, springtime maple buds encased in ice... because i can hear you asking from all the way over here.)