Digging Out After the Storm

These weather reports – they’re enough to drive you crazy. I swear I’m preparing for the apocalypse. When it’s dark outside, I fear the worst, but when the sun comes back and I get to see all the freshly fallen snow, I don’t think it’s possible for anything bad to happen. That is, until it’s dark again.

I’m getting the whole “preparing” thing down to a science. Now I know why people keep everything they’ve ever acquired. They may need it someday. Unfortunately, I don’t have much of what I need, so I’m in collection mode. I’ll get there. Some day.

Anyway, I have to tell you that I harbored a bit of guilt last night. The house was warm and cozy, the pellet stove was full, I had just eaten and taken two Benadryl. I was ready for bed. Laura has somehow managed to stack about ten blankets – one on top of the next – on our “mattress.” It’s practically bullet-proof once you get into it. The thing is, I keep thinking that I’m supposed to be ready for any eventuality that might happen throughout the night. If I’m knocked out, snoring up a storm, how am I going to react if something goes down? Oh well. I guess that’s why they call it beauty sleep. Take it while I can.

We wondered what we were going to find this morning. The snow was really piling up last night. I think the majority fell before midnight. I’d say we got about eight inches in total. It’s always fun to walk down the stairs and peek out the window to get a glimpse of exactly what the damage was.

This time, it didn’t seem too bad. I’m not sure we’re going to be able to tell the difference for the duration because snow on top of snow doesn’t look all that different than what it was the day before. It’s not until we attempt to walk around that we feel the brunt of things.

I did my shoveling nice and early. I began with the roof and then migrated to the driveway. First I tackle the path to the cars. That’s pretty easy because I just shovel the top layer off the bottom frozen layer. I have no idea how thick that is.

After I’m finished with that, I generally jump in the truck to drive it back and forth a few times. Starting the truck up is one of the first things I do after shoveling the roof. I have to get it warm.

I’m not sure why I drive around the driveway. I know the goal is to flatten the snow so I don’t have to shovel as much, but it rarely has that effect. When the snow is all fluffy, it doesn’t flatten. I have to wait for the snow to pack like snowball snow. Then this technique would probably work better. Whatever. At least it’s fun to drive around.

I know, I know, I have a reverse light out.

Like I said, driving back and forth doesn’t do much. I always end up shoveling the rest of the driveway. I’ll tell you one thing – it’s fun after a while. It’s good to get out there and put some muscle into something.

I guess Laura got bored of me and went on her merry way, taking picture after picture. It’s so nice to have her doing the photography for this blog now. I can worry about the action and she can worry about capturing it digitally. I then bring it to you and we’re all happy.

This is what she came up with after she disappeared from sight.

First, we have some pine trees on the side of the house. That’s always a classic Maine picture. Snow and pines.

After that, she took a bunch of bird pictures. I filtered through them and decided this was the best. Someone can comment below as to what type of bird this is.

Then, she took a picture of the pool diving board. I can only guess that she’s depressed that she won’t be able to swim until next August.

And finally, she decided to show off how much snow there is on one of the bird feeders. No birds, just the feeder. Good enough for me.