Lisa's Snow Adventure

I like snow, I really do. I have NO problem driving in snow, in fact Saturday at the height of this blizzard, I was out Christmas shopping. At least until the stores started closing. But, I'd like to share a little pictorial of why, when the forecast calls for lots of snow, I don't always get excited. This is the bottom of my driveway with the camera looking towards Stockton Road. My faithful husband is working hard, making room for us to park at the end of the drive. Why, you ask? Because this is what the rest of the drive looks like. Let's take a walk up there, shall we?

Rounding the bend and looking up, this is the troublesome part of the drive. It's a bit steep, and most of the year we have to worry every time there is a hard rain because the gravel washes out and leaves DEEP canyons of erosion. But let's stay on topic, OK?

We've gotten to the top and are looking back down. There are some suspicious hints of drifting aren't there? Oh yes! The doggone drifting!

See this huge expanse of white, white, white? Well, the winds come sweeping across this plain.... and dump the snow back onto the drive. All of this is just to the side of the driveway, in fact, if you squint and look at the bottom, you will our cars that are parked there.

This isn't our driveway, just another view of the field next to it. The tracks are from where my brother drove the skidloader back to the other side of the farm. He made those tracks about an hour ago and they're already filling in. #!&*#@!!!

All right let's keep going because we're not done yet. We're at the top of the hill looking forward and I think, yes! look! I can almost see the house. We really appreciate these trees that block the drifts, but they also block the sun and this is usually the last to melt. The pines on the left were Christmas trees, way back in the day.

Rounding the bend and, yes, the house!! Yay!!

Bleh! That's a lot of snow! So pretty!

Standing closer to the house and looking back at the bend and the pines. 'Over the river and through the woods.......' ha ha ha

Here we are in front of the house. Hmm, I coulda sworn that this was fully plowed an hour ago. Oh yeah!! Wind and drifts, not my fave! Wonder what it will look like in the morning? This is why the cars are at the bottom, even if they can get traction on the hill, we never know when the drifting will put us back at the starting point. It's been a while since we had to trek up and down the hill for more than a day or two. I think it was The Blizzard of 2000 when we did this for over a week. At 6am, as I headed down to get to work, I got to the hill and sank into a drift all the way to my hips. My hubby, the teacher, was asleep in his bed, and we had no neighbors within shouting distance (my brother hadn't built his house next door yet). And there I was, flopping around in the snow, trying to extricate myself. Just picture a fish out of water. I won't keep you in suspense, I survived, and we bought some snowshoes the next day. That's the year we had to bring our groceries up the hill on a sled. I tell you, there are no streetlights around here and it can be DARK at 6am, and also at midnight when I work that shift. Sometimes I also have to hang onto the fence when it's icy and windy.

This is the view from the front of the house. Truly beautiful and we're looking west so you can imagine the gorgeous sunsets we get. Too bad the wind seems to ALWAYS come from the west. Chilly drafts are a fact of life around here and when the wind blows hard, the doors buzzzz. I tell myself it's a good thing to get some fresh air in the house.

Thanks for sticking with me for my long, whiny post. I just thought I would share a glimpse of why I don't always jump for joy with a blizzard forecast. And while we're at it, let's give thanks to all of the hospital workers, firemen, paramedics, law enforcement, road workers who salt and plow, grocery store clerks, etc who go to work in all weather while others get to jump for joy at being snowed in. And a giant THANK YOU!!! to my brother, David, for plowing us out (not once but TWICE) this past weekend. THANK YOU !!!!