Birthday Blizzard

Well, I love snow. I really do. I never complain about it like many other people do. Yes, it can be inconvenient. Yes, it requires work. But it is so beautiful. And really, 5 or 6 times a year is just a treat. But nature outdid itself for my birthday this year.

Its being called SNOWMAGEDDON or SNOWPOCALYPSE. Pick a name. Call it what you wish. It was a big ass storm. People even heard snow thunder in the area.

It began Friday morning, February 5th at around 10am. School was closed pre-emptively and I worked from home. Bob went in to the office until around noon. It started out slowly--deceivingly innocuous. But it didn't stop until around 4pm on Saturday. 30 straight hours of snow. And depending where you measure, the untouched snow in our yard measures between 25 and 30 inches. And, it is heavy, wet snow. When the sun came out at 4:30pm yesterday, anywhere that there was a narrow hole in the snow, it glowed a blue arctic icy color. It truly is spectacular.

Our neighbor, Brent, went to the store on Friday and bought a $700 snow blower. We liked him an awful lot before that purchase. I just want you to know that. But now, we love him. Bob and another neighbor, Frank, followed him around the neighborhood with their shovels doing detal work for a total of 7 hours yesterday. And actually, Brent started snowblowing on Friday night to get ahead of it.

Here are a few shots of the glorious outcome of the storm.


The hard to see path back to the Southern Magnolia. Bob was quick to get out there and keep the snow off of it. He cleaned it with a pole 4 times and I was headed back for the final shakedown right before this shot. By the way, that fence on the left? Yes, its up hill. But that cross beam is above my waist.

Doesn't she look pretty with white icing? It hides the fact that the trim needs painting!

That's a view over the deck toward the woods behind the house. It looks like some giant baker somewhere mixed together confectioners sugar and milk and poured it over the trees.

I managed to make him hold still for this for only a moment. I was interrupting him, Danny, and Danny during a robust sledding run DOWN THE DECK STAIRS. There was so much snow that they had packed it into a speed run.

The customary shot of the vehicles.

And here's "The Fly" out for a second round of duty after a wet clothes replacement.

Finally, to wrap this up. Check this out. My dear friend Kristin sent it along after spotting

it on an Accuweather forecast. This sums it up in ways that I am not capable of surpassing.