Another Day, Another Blizzard

Yes, folks. We really did have another blizzard. I am getting a little tired of all you people in California sending us your bad weather just because you've gotten tired of it. Keep a few of these storms for yourself! This time the weather service began warning us of our impending doom before the storm had even hit the west coast. I think they got a little bit of grief for the last surprise storm and weren't taking any chances of missing this one.

Each blizzard has had its own character, and this one was no exception. It came from the east instead of the prevailing westerly direction that is usual for this area. That meant it had a whole new direction of snow to blow, with no drifts to stop it from choking my driveway. I was smart and moved the car out of the tree belt this time so it wouldn't get socked in, but the snow was blowing from behind and made a drift out in front of it. The van got moved one more time by Jack when he brought me home after Damon's party, but had drifted again by morning.


Every storm my van parks farther and farther down the driveway. Pretty soon we'll be hiking clear to the road! School was canceled in Grenora so Laura and I staggered through the drifts together on our way to my preschool playgroup. My door was frozen shut from the freezing rain, so we got in on the sheltered side of the van, gunned the engine and plowed through the drifts to freedom.

After preschool I headed to my mom's to help with family togetherness time over there. A week ago the water in my parents' house quit working. My dad is still in California, trapped by the storms that generous state keeps sharing with the rest of the country, but he has been trying to diagnose the problem through the phone wires. The current theory is that the pipe from the road is frozen. "But don't worry," said the former owner cheerfully, "the last time it did that, it thawed by mid-April." After a day or so of hauling water by hand out of the well in the basement, my mom decided April wasn't going to work for her, thank you very much.

We can cut weeks off that water-free time by clearing away the snow from over the pipes so the warming sun can thaw the ground. Only problem is that the snow has turned out to cover about 8-10 inches of solid ice in some places.


The obvious solution was to take an ax to it, of course. We all took turns with it, but my mom used it the most. She'll definitely feel it tomorrow, since she's been sick and largely immobile for a month-plus now. And tomorrow is book moving day, too. (We have books like you won't believe, and that's after the harsh purging before the move!). Quite frankly, I think there may have been some latent hostility being released here...I'm just saying. In any case, the rest of us stayed back when she took to swinging. I guess that's how Montanans do therapy. Saves on the psychiatry bills!


The imprint of a tire left in the snow as it melted to ice.