Mid-January is ice-up time here in Kingston. It is a time of frustration and depression for many, but it is also a time of sublime, subtly shifting beauty.

Ahh, Canada in the winter.

The first snowfall of the year is always a special moment for Canadians. We are, after all, a country of winter. A country of hockey. A country of snow shovels, sleds, parkas. A country that, despite going through the exact same thing every single year, routinely forgets how to drive on bad roads for a week every December (but that's another story).

If you're lucky, you'll find yourself outdoors for the first snow of the year, watching the storm come in over the lake.