More than a dusting

It’s a good thing I love snow, because this is what we received in less than 8 hours yesterday. While many folks were trying to drive home from work. And the highways were closed because of accidents.

My cat hadn’t been outside for DAYS and she got all excited when I opened the back door for a photograph. It didn’t take long for her to change her mind. It turns out that sitting on the heat vent is the best way to spend her winter.

On Monday it was so cold that the rhododendron leaves were curled up as tightly as possible (apparently they don’t like 15F). Wednesday morning they were dripping with freezing drizzle. When that stopped, I rushed out to Costco for another 5 gallons of milk (we were down to our last half-gallon) and eggs (down to the last 3) and bread (we went through an entire loaf at lunch yesterday).

For some idiotic reason, businesses that employ thousands of people did not allow them to go home at lunchtime yesterday. At 3pm or so, when the THUNDERSNOW hit (real word, people), everyone thought, Oh, I’d better head home before it gets bad. Unfortunately, it was already bad. And then it got worse. Many people were stuck in traffic for 7 or 8 hours. Roads closed. Cars died. Traffic did not move.  I was so very grateful that my husband had previously scheduled to take the day off. That way he was here to fill the bird feeder…

… and shovel snow.  😛
Waiting now for the snowplow to dig out our neighborhood. It might be a while.

School has been out for a couple of days now (one of those days was the semester break). With everyone at home –and it being newsletter week as well– I am terribly behind on writing and reading blogs. I hope return to normal by next week.

Just a dusting

1. EB, my 18yo son, left these footprints on his way to the school bus this morning.
2. Can you tell which one is a shoe print?

3. I have things on my mind that I can’t write about at the moment. This is where a blog fails as an online journal, but it is important to respect others’ rights to privacy.

4. It was wonderful to have all of my boys at home for a few weeks (and SuperDad took some time off from work, too).

[click on pics to embiggen]

5. I’m pretty sure MM was more than ready to go back to college!

not captured by my camera

The wind lifts the snow
like glittering fairy dust
swirling around me

I live with them, and they live with me.

Thank you for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers over the past week. My worries have lessened a bit, and I am feeling more positive.

Last Friday was “white out” day at the elementary school: wear white and hope for snow. Snow was not in the forecast for the day, but amazingly it did snow about an inch. I think I was more excited about that little miracle than the kids were!

After a weekend of milder weather, we have returned to below-freezing temperatures and a cold wind.
Today is the perfect day for scented candles and cleaning the house.

Someone unearthed a string of white lights — for what, I do not know — and left them on the floor. They’ve been stepped on at least once. I’ve plugged them in a few times for the ambiance… and safety.

Assessing the Damage

The winter storms were hard on some of our plants and trees. My husband is concerned about this tree (bottom photo, above) that separates our yard from a neighbor who keeps a junk pile going in view at all times.
I confess to being sad about the smashed lavender and freeze-dried rhododendron.  There’s little doubt that the rhodie is over and done for, but I hope someone can help me save the lavender.
Still, it could have been so much worse –after all, we aren’t having to replace our roof –so I’m filing this under  “Thankful Thursday.”

Any suggestions or experience with plants?

Random Dozen #10 for me

As always, the Random Dozen is brought to us by “Lidna” at 2nd Cup of Coffee (head on over there to link up via Mr. Linky and see others’ answers).  Most people post on Wednesday, but I guess I’m a rebel. I post when I get around to it!

Linda writes: I’m feelin’ a little Irish this week, so a couple of this week’s questions are Irish flavored. No, not Bailey’s.

*Note that all questions involving Irish stereotypes are meant as light-hearted, fun questions, not meant to be offensive in any way.*

Here are your dozen for this first week of March. You know the drill; read, ruminate, write, for tomorrow we post and link. Did that sound just a tad Irish?

1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason?
Even numbers are easier for my brain

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “not at all” and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you?
Maybe a 2? I have to remind myself to not go to the store looking like a total slouch.

3. Among these Irish stereotypes, with which do you identify most closely? Talkative, Proud, Inquisitive, Love to party, Hot-tempered
Talkative!

4. How lucky do you consider yourself?
Really very blessed

5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you’ve written?
I’ve written over 450 posts and you want me to choose the favorite one?!? That would take more time than I have — and trust me, it’s a rare commodity here this week.

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words.
Totally unpredictable extremes

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery)
I think I can detect it pretty well

8. How “green” are you, environmentally speaking?
I’m fairly uptight about recycling, but I’m nowhere near as environmentally conscious as I should be.

9. What is your favorite song this week?
One of my all-time faves:

But I can’t choose just one…

I really miss this band.  These 3 guys went their separate ways to do solo projects.

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up?
Sometimes a penny, usually a nickle or greater

11. Complete the sentence: “Every time I look outside my window ….”
I see snow.

12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? See this site to find out.
“We Can Work It Out” by The Beatles was #1 in the USA and the UK

It’s Complicated

I  love hate love hate love hate snowplows.

Without the snowplows, our road looked like this:

And while I love the beauty of the snow, we were running low on milk being snowed in gets really old after more than 3 or 4 days, so I was truly glad to see the arrival of the first snowplows.

About a week after the first snowplows — the ones that made it possible for us to be free once again — this machine made it’s way through my neighborhood:

It’s one of the big guns from the  Department of Transportation.

Gone is the compact snow and ice, but the road itself has been gouged by the heavy machinery.
Scars remain on and off the road.

scarred pavement

The damage from the snow and ice met the work of the heavy equipment on parts of our road. I doubt there will be any money available to fix these problems for quite some time.  The county and the state had budget troubles before our winter of historical storms.

Sometimes the plows scrape more than just the road. Plenty of people will have yard repair work this Spring.  This clump of sod probably came from a neighbor’s yard.

Got Mail?

And sometimes the plow doesn’t come close to the edge of the road at all — good for the preservation of their lawn, but it clearly was a determent for the mail carrier.  I was impressed by the resourcefulness of these residents.

Our snow is slowly melting away. The gritty, gray mess on the edge of the roadways is ugly to look at, but the slow melt is preferred over worries of flooding.

And when the snow has finally melted, I do hope for a cleansing rain.