Snowed In

Just in case you were wondering, the winter storm was definitely more sizzle than fizzle. We had somewhere between 5 to 7 inches. Our normal January snowfall is around 6 inches but it doesn’t normally come in one storm.

Best laid plans and all but we still ended up having to venture out on Saturday morning. We had all the food but were short on certain dog supplies and dogs don’t care about snow. It was a fun drive and it almost went off without a problem until we returned and got stuck in my driveway.

To be fair to me, the driveway is longish and goes uphill. We have a spot that is straight uphill which is handled with no problem. But then it actually curves around to the left and continues uphill. In the summer, it is aesthetically pleasing because you can’t actually see that part but in the snow, it is a trap. You have to slow down to take the turn and you lose whatever momentum you’ve gained and suddenly the wheels are spinning and you are going nowhere. I had shoveled that section before we left but enough snow had come down to make it a problem so we had to shovel more to give the car some traction to make it the rest of the way up.

We had actually taken Rocco the Wonder Dog with us. He wasn’t getting a park walk but they allow dogs in the big box pet store so he got a ride in the car and some treats at the pet place so it was good. He kind of didn’t get the whole sitting in the car while we were trying to shovel it out though.

But we were holed up from around 11 AM until the next day. The guys who do the driveway showed up about 10 PM and cleared it off so we had no problems getting out the next day. That may make me sound lazy but I’ve shoveled the thing myself before and it takes quite a bit of time. These guys had a crew and better equipment and salt so I just find it easier to pay someone else to take care of it.

Had an opportunity to watch all the activity at the bird feeders which was nice. The bright red cardinals against the snow were pretty. At some point in the early afternoon, a small herd of 8-10 deer crossed over from the open field next door and trekked up the woods in the back of our house. It turned into a nice relaxing Saturday.

Today, life is back to normal. The streets were all clear by Sunday so driving around on Sunday was no problem. That meant back to work as usual today.

There is a chance for another snow storm to hit next Saturday although projecting accurately this far in advance is impossible. It is just enough to give the local weather people something to talk about.