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The Big Dig!
So, I went shopping on Monday afternoon, picking up Storm Snacks, and found that several hundred other people were in this very small grocery for the same purpose. We were all polite and unworried, though.
Tuesday, I insisted on driving Margot in to work, so that I could pick her up - the blizzard was to hit at 3, and she leaves work at 4:45. I had my doubts about her little Cougar in any depth of snow. She laughed at me for being a worrywart, but let me do it. She was let go 15 minutes early - fortunately I was already waiting for her - and had been told not to come in today.
It wasn't really snowing yet. Just flurries. By then the wind was picking up a bit, but just blowing around the really dry stuff we already had on the ground.
Now, we'd already had snow on the ground from Monday and previous. I ran the Cougar up over the drift to get it closer to the east gate, and drove Carolyn's SUV up behind it. Then I took my van around to the north gate, and tried to get it in. The wind was so fierce that it kept closing half of it, and I finally had to drag a concrete block over to hold it open. Then I had the fun of flinging the van through the snow in the back, into the barn. (What, plow the back? Why on earth would I plow the back??) Got it in, closed the barn door, closed the north gate, and slogged my way in through the back door.
Panted at the table for a while, got a little to eat, had a little Irish Cream, and made sure the house was locked up. Carolyn got the dishes done, and had her own bite to eat. Margot tried to work on her glass in the basement, but decided it was too cold - even with the heater vent open - and came up to get some Drambuie. And then we took the animals and came upstairs.
The wind was fierce by this point, but we were still only seeing loose snow being cast about, as far as we could see. We watched tv (mostly saved stuff) and ate snacks, and drank booze. Because the windows here in the bedroom are unfinished, we were getting some wind in here. I'd covered the window behind the bed, but it tore a bit in a couple of places, and the whole sheet of plastic was belled out in a way it had never been. (At least we didn't have to worry about carbon dioxide buildup!) Margot hid under the covers - which meant I couldn't, or I'd block her view of the tv. I stayed on the computer, well-wrapped.
About 9:30 or so, the wind really started howling. About 11:30, we got thundersnow. The wind was blowing snow sideways, and visibility dropped from a couple blocks down to half a block. About 1:30 the roar of the wind was incredible.
We never did lose sight of the next building over, so - not as fast a snowfall as the 1979 blizzard; but still quite impressive.
This morning, our east and north sidewalks were scoured almost clean, but the drive and the back yard were drifted really well. We never lost power and, unlike some of our neighbors, we never lost cable. One of our neighbors cleaned the sidewalks for us and dug out the buried driveways; I shoveled the balcony.
We're good. We stayed off the roads (except for Carolyn but - you know. Hospital workers gots to go in.) We didn't overwork ourselves, and we shared the (admittedly notional) snowblower with the neighbors. We planned ahead, and we are fine.
Drifts elsewhere had defeated the DOT's first efforts, but now I hear that 90% of the roads are clear. The workers took their trucks and snowplows home with them last night, so they could start plowing from home and work their way out. There were people elsewhere who were on the roads - We as a society need for businesses to plan better to get people all the way home before blizzards next time. But apparently we only lost one person, an older guy, to shoveling. No stranded folks have been reported friz to death. No homeless people have been reported friz either. So we done good there.
How are you doing?
Tuesday, I insisted on driving Margot in to work, so that I could pick her up - the blizzard was to hit at 3, and she leaves work at 4:45. I had my doubts about her little Cougar in any depth of snow. She laughed at me for being a worrywart, but let me do it. She was let go 15 minutes early - fortunately I was already waiting for her - and had been told not to come in today.
It wasn't really snowing yet. Just flurries. By then the wind was picking up a bit, but just blowing around the really dry stuff we already had on the ground.
Now, we'd already had snow on the ground from Monday and previous. I ran the Cougar up over the drift to get it closer to the east gate, and drove Carolyn's SUV up behind it. Then I took my van around to the north gate, and tried to get it in. The wind was so fierce that it kept closing half of it, and I finally had to drag a concrete block over to hold it open. Then I had the fun of flinging the van through the snow in the back, into the barn. (What, plow the back? Why on earth would I plow the back??) Got it in, closed the barn door, closed the north gate, and slogged my way in through the back door.
Panted at the table for a while, got a little to eat, had a little Irish Cream, and made sure the house was locked up. Carolyn got the dishes done, and had her own bite to eat. Margot tried to work on her glass in the basement, but decided it was too cold - even with the heater vent open - and came up to get some Drambuie. And then we took the animals and came upstairs.
The wind was fierce by this point, but we were still only seeing loose snow being cast about, as far as we could see. We watched tv (mostly saved stuff) and ate snacks, and drank booze. Because the windows here in the bedroom are unfinished, we were getting some wind in here. I'd covered the window behind the bed, but it tore a bit in a couple of places, and the whole sheet of plastic was belled out in a way it had never been. (At least we didn't have to worry about carbon dioxide buildup!) Margot hid under the covers - which meant I couldn't, or I'd block her view of the tv. I stayed on the computer, well-wrapped.
About 9:30 or so, the wind really started howling. About 11:30, we got thundersnow. The wind was blowing snow sideways, and visibility dropped from a couple blocks down to half a block. About 1:30 the roar of the wind was incredible.
We never did lose sight of the next building over, so - not as fast a snowfall as the 1979 blizzard; but still quite impressive.
This morning, our east and north sidewalks were scoured almost clean, but the drive and the back yard were drifted really well. We never lost power and, unlike some of our neighbors, we never lost cable. One of our neighbors cleaned the sidewalks for us and dug out the buried driveways; I shoveled the balcony.
We're good. We stayed off the roads (except for Carolyn but - you know. Hospital workers gots to go in.) We didn't overwork ourselves, and we shared the (admittedly notional) snowblower with the neighbors. We planned ahead, and we are fine.
Drifts elsewhere had defeated the DOT's first efforts, but now I hear that 90% of the roads are clear. The workers took their trucks and snowplows home with them last night, so they could start plowing from home and work their way out. There were people elsewhere who were on the roads - We as a society need for businesses to plan better to get people all the way home before blizzards next time. But apparently we only lost one person, an older guy, to shoveling. No stranded folks have been reported friz to death. No homeless people have been reported friz either. So we done good there.
How are you doing?