The Snowblower and Me

The view from our back door.

We've had SNOW this week - Monday and Tuesday.  And not just the little stinkin' snows we usually get - you know, one or two inches (if we're lucky!) and then it warms up and melts in the afternoon and freezes overnight.  Most of the time there's not a lot of point in shoveling; it just disappears either because the sun comes out or it changes to rain and gets washed away.

Last winter, we lucked out - we didn't really get much snow, and what we did get went away pretty quickly.  A good thing, too, because That Knee wasn't up to standing and walking for any extended time, so shoveling and running the snowblower were OUT.

Well.

Monday we got dumped on.  It snowed most of the day, falling thicker and faster as the day progressed.  We were one of the areas where there was "locally heavier accumulation," plus we have some places on our property where the snow drifts badly.

I fixed an early dinner, and afterward, when it was getting dark, That Person with That Knee said maybe he should get out the snowblower and...  I squelched THAT right away.  I'm not going to allow That Knee to have ANY excuse to kick up a fuss and let the nasty little infection bacteria get a toehold again.  Not THIS winter, anyway.

So I put on my arctic Carhartts and went out to the detached garage - That Man's private domain.  He tagged along, walking gingerly in the path I broke through the snow.  I'd never used our snowblower before, delicate flower that I am (HA!), so I needed instruction in its usage.

He gassed it up, showed me all the levers, buttons, switches, and toggles, got it started, and away I went!  

I spent a little less than an hour going up and down the driveway and front walk, while the snow fell fast and furious and the wind blew like crazy.  Although it was dark, it wasn't DARK.  The snow reflected enough of what little ambient light there was that I didn't need to turn on any of the outside lights to see what I was doing.

It was kind of nice out there, just me and the snowblower.  I saw two snowmobilers early on, and a couple of cars, but everybody was huddled in their homes and the snowplows hadn't started their evening runs on our street.  They had plowed several times throughout the day, but while I was out there, the street was dead.  I finished, returned the snowblower to the garage and went back into the house.

By the time it stopped Tuesday morning, there was just about the same amount of snow that I had already removed the previous evening covering the areas I'd cleared.  So, after lunch, I put on my Carhartts, went out to the detached garage, and started up the snowblower again - alone, this time.

I spent more time on the job that second time - clearing a path to the mailbox, and clearing more of the road in front of the mailbox so the mail carrier wouldn't have trouble reaching it from his little red, white, and blue Jeep.  Also some of the bad drifts in the driveway - the places that required three or four (or more!) passes to get down to the pavement, mainly between the cars we don't drive often, but also where the garage and race car trailer form a right angle - we get some really nice drifts there!  And at the end of the driveway and in front of the mailbox, where the snowplows throw the snow from the road.  Again, it was nice out there - still quiet, no wind to speak of (YAY!), and bright sun.  I got warm enough I couldn't wear a hat or my hood, so my scalp got sunburned where the hair parts!  I can still feel it!

I was kind of tired after manhandling the snowblower two days in a row!

Today I worked on the snow packed under the attached garage's door (it wouldn't quite close all the way, and we don't need the cold air blowing in under it), chipped the snow and ice off our mailbox (we want to get our mail), and cleared the whole front porch and the steps up to it (we want to get our Amazon packages - HA!).  It must have worked because we got mail and packages about an hour later.  We didn't get ANY yesterday, and Monday was Presidents Day, so no mail delivery, even if there hadn't been all that snow.

So I'm feeling like I've accomplished a LOT this week, even though I haven't done much of my normal work around the house (to be honest, I haven't done ANY - the house is a wreck).  But that's not the end of it.  We're supposed to get another couple of inches of snow tonight.  They say about 2 inches, but who knows?!?!?

We will see what we see when we see it!

Oh FUN!

April Fool!

April first, and there’s SNOW on the ground!  Not much, to be honest, but Saturday it rained all day, then it sleeted, then the snow started.  Within an hour, everything was completely covered.  An early April Fool's joke on us!

In the morning, my poor daffodils and daylilies poked through here and there, and the trees glistened with a thin layer of ice and glowed with a finish coat of snow on their trunks and branches.  The neighbor’s chain link fence, encased in ice, shone in the sunlight.

Usually, by the end of the day all the snow and ice would have melted, but this time, the temperature never got above 35 degrees, so most of it remained.  No big deal, but often, when there is ice on the trees, branches will break.

And some will hit power lines.

Heavy sigh.

So, on top of the unexpected ice and snow, last evening we lost power.  Talk about piling one insult on another - FUN!

At least we’re well practiced.  We used to have frequent outages before our part of the power grid was improved.  I got out the oil lamp and a zillion candles and lit ‘em up.  So we had light and a little heat.  It always gets me how the house will stay relatively warm (around 66 degrees) with just the oil lamps and candles.  And how quiet it is without the TV, refrigerator, and furnace blower running.

The cats appropriated our laps and contributed warmth to the throws we bundled up with.  Nothing to do but wait.

We reported the outage by mobile phone, talked on the phone, talked to each other.

Not a bad way to spend a few hours!

Snow!

The first snow this winter fell at night.  I left the blinds open and watched it fall, thick and fast, as I drifted off to sleep, buried under the quilt.  I woke up later to the sweet scrape of a snow plow barreling down our street - one of the coziest sounds EVER.

Since just after Christmas, we've had snow on the ground until a couple of days ago.  Amazing!!!  Of course, the snow couldn't go anywhere because the temperatures were in the single and low double digits (positive AND negative) most of that time, so what snow fell, stayed.  Unusual for central Indiana, where winters are generally cold and wet and gray and UGLY.  If there is snow, it melts during the day and freezes at night, leaving the streets glazed with ice.  

UGH.

But this year, for something completely different, we've had several snows - nothing earth shaking, just an inch or two or three at a time.  The deal is, it hasn't melted in between, until earlier this week. 

Today, the high approached 60 degrees - downright balmy - with rain.  Tomorrow's forecast is a high around 20, and snow all morning, after rain all night.  Sounds like a recipe for rush hour disaster.

We will see what we see when we see it.

Ah, Spring at Last!

It finally feels like SPRING!  Not that the winter was so terrible.  We had hardly any snow.  There were no ice storms.  The temperatures weren't anything to get excited about.  But winter in central Indiana isn't pretty.

Winters here are an ugly dark gray/brown, wet, and cold, with an occasional frigid day or week.  Snow makes things look bright and cheery for a bit, then it melts in the late afternoon and refreezes at night.  Or it rains during the day and freezes overnight.  Or there's freezing rain.  Or the ever-popular "wintry mix."  UGH.

Mostly it's hypothermia weather - wet and cold-ish.

Then there's the precursor to spring - rain and wind and mud - oh my!  Still not pretty.

But this past week - suddenly SPRING!  The grass glows with the color of a green crayon. Dandelions and violets have invaded the yard!  Daffodils and tulips bloom in their beds!  Peonies, day lilies, and hostas poke up from the ground!  Asparagus begs to be cut in the garden!  Fuzzy ducklings and goslings block traffic at the marina!  Tree frogs sing in the evening!  Magnolia, dogwood, and redbud trees bloom in a riot of magenta, pink, and white!  All at once!

Nature has had enough of winter, and as my dad would say, "Spring has sprung!"  

If You Don't Like the Weather, Wait Five Minutes...

Yesterday, it was 73 degrees.  This is our house this morning.

No wonder half the office was out sick at some point this week.  We've had some really wild temperature swings this month.

Remember, I went downhill skiing three hours SOUTH of here three weeks ago!  And last weekend, I was running around the yard in shorts and a t-shirt.

Yes, spring is coming, even though Punxsutawney Phil predicted it's not arriving for at least another three weeks, but it's putting forth a mighty effort to break out and run rampant.

So here we are, stuck in the middle of it all, and now we have to figure out what to wear tomorrow.

Good luck with that!!!