Day 85 -- blizzard day

Well -- I guess I spoke/typed too soon about Shelagh's Broom -- either that or she just did half a job at cleaning that day. There must have been a good movie on or a fantastic book she had to get back to reading. Today was nasty. I was prepared for worse, but that is not saying it was not a bad storm in its own right. The snow here did not begin until about noon and within half an hour there was major snow. I can't say it was falling since what I saw out the window was that amazing Maritime horizontal snow. The winds gusts were loud and with the heavy snow visibility was near zero. There was a point when I couldn't see the outline of the house across the street. Then about 6 PM the wind began to die down and the snow was lighter and before we knew it, it was pouring rain. I tried to find the positive in this, since the saturated snow is very difficult to move. If the winds gain strength overnight, there will be less blowing snow since it will all be stuck together like cement. <smile>.

The clean up is beginning. I was out for about 30 minutes around 9 PM and the air was filled with the sound of heavy equipment. That will continue into the night as roads, parking lots, businesses and schools are dug out from the drifted snow. It did take me a few minutes to get out the front door. The screen door opens outward and the snow had drifted into a solid mass against the door. Over the years, I've become an expert at getting the door shovelled out from the inside -- an inch at a time with the toe of my boot, hands and finally the edge of the shovel. There was over 6 inches of compressed snow on the porch and stairs with considerably more on the walkway in front of the house. By the time I'd moved that snow, I decided to stop and call someone for assistance in the morning. It is about 100 feet to the street, and I just wasn't up for it today with the weight of that snow. I've done it, but not today. <smile>  The walk out in the morning will be challenging, but once out to the street, the walk into work will be doable. When the street and sidewalk ploughs come back in the early morning, there will be a huge pile at the end of the driveway to clear, too. Another reason to wait to call someone -- there will be more to move before I choose to move the car out of the driveway.

It is interesting to have a day inside the house due to external reasons rather than by choice. I did not see any vehicles on the road all day, so others were holed up inside, too. I did some work, a radio interview, and even cooked some items for the freezer and for supper today. I didn't get to everything on my list as I'd hoped, but some things were completed. It seems like 'found time' in a way. Part of me felt I should be watching a movie <smile>. I did find my self saying the same phrase over and over -- which leads me to the selection for today. It was part of a commercial a while back that stuck in my brain -- so even marketing researchers seem not to be immune to the effects of the sales gurus <smile>. Enjoy!

Snow Day -- Matt Pond