There is a sense of relief in the air when November passes into December.

Thanks to the spectacular beauty of the six months preceding it, weather-wise and visually, November suffers under the burden of being the month that carries the stick ‘reality check time.’

We mountain dwellers know all-too-well November’s hissy fits and harsh reminders. Those who forget to put their snow tires on and find themselves on the highway in a blizzard, the recently-warm pavement seizing the cold moisture and bonding it to ice, have opinions about November.

Those who live in the snow – the sled and shred heads – legion and mad as they are – view November differently. They welcome its arrival, with its potential for massive volumes of early snow. And by month’s end, if they have not been amply satisfied by November’s bounty, they, too, welcome its demise. For December brings certainty of winter, when November merely brings hints and tastes.

Such was the case this year. If a winter’s totality can be viewed through a November lens, we should be in for a pretty mild winter.

Alas to those who wish for that to be true; keep dreaming.

Life in the East Kootenay is all about embracing the seasons and their particular gifts. It’s the time to re-connect with friends and family.

In November we stash away autumn’s toys and seek to stretch out summer’s bounty; and with December’s apparel made weightier by the week, we enter winter and the Christmas slow down, sleepy and snug in our idyllic paradise, wrapped in the darkness of the short days.

And then we seize the light.

The following is our look at November in the East Kootenay. Images were taken in the following areas: Cranbrook, Jaffray/Tie Lake, Elk Valley, Fernie, Lake Koocanusa, Kimberley and Wardner.

An indicative of this past month’s general mood, periods of grey separated by all-too-brief periods of shine, is the complete lack of images from the Columbia Valley. Unfortunately, our forays into the valley coincided with relentlessly socked-in days and too late in the day to make the most of day light.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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