We had snow last night that amounted to 3-4 inches. This morning John got up early, went out, ran the snow blower and cleared the driveway. He also cleaned off all three cars- his, mine, and Kelly's. Kelly finished cleaning off her windows, jumped in her car and left for work. John finished cleaning off his car, came in to grab his backpack, and he left for work. I had breakfast, put on my boots and went out to shovel off the back deck, the back stairs, the back walkway, and the walkway to the driveway. I also shoveled the piles of snow that were like Jersey barriers marking where John & Kelly's cars had been parked. There were the same mounds of snow around my car. I cleaned all that up with the shovel, then cleaned off my windows the rest of the way.
I ran downtown for 10AM for a meeting and a second breakfast (the first one was small and quick before shoveling). I got home about 11:30AM. I finished cleaning up the moguls that marked where my car had been parked earlier, did some scraping here and there, but was pleased to find that the sunshine had dried the sidewalk and deck so it was all perfectly clear without a trace of snow or ice. Yes!
I went off to work pleased as anything that I had cleaned what was left up and we'd all be able to safely get into the house when we got home from work this evening.
Right. This is New England.
Around 5PM what they term a snow squall and I call a mini blizzard hit. Of course this was the evening I had to go out of my way by several miles to drive a co-worker who doesn't drive home. I hate driving in snow. I hate driving in driving snow and wind even more.
I also can't see that well in the dark due to headlight and road glare when the roads are wet. The roads were wet and slippery! Oh, joy. But, we chatted and kept it light while I tensely gripped the wheel and kept up with traffic while outside the windows the snow stuck to the glass and blew in endless sheets across the windshield. The wagger (the rear window windshield wiper) usually squeaks if I forget to turn it off after clearing the window- nary a chirp out of it as it merrily cleaned wet snow off the glass. Conditions were nasty to put it nicely. We also took the opportunity to employ the front seat warmers. Nice little luxury I seldom use, but after shoveling this morning I had a few twinges in my back that were relieved by the warmth. Nice. It was like cruising through rush hour traffic downtown in my own private little spa.
I delivered her safely to her door, then had to tackle the turnabout in her backyard where other tenants vehicles were parked and tree branches were down. It was sort of like an urban jungle, with snow.
The drive home was treacherous with near whiteout conditions due to strong gusting winds blowing the snow across the roads. I skidded on Franklin Street when the car ahead of me abruptly applied his brakes. The driver in front of him had made a sudden decision to veer into the package store (no doubt for a warming libation) without benefit of employing directional signals. You have to love those people who think they are the only ones on the road, or perhaps that you know through some process of precognition that they're going to be turning NOW!
When I reached East Mountain Road after venturing through the windswept white landscape formerly known as Union Street and traveling the sidewinder curves up Papermill Road I suddenly realized I'd left the mini blizzard behind. There was a hint of sparkly light snow in the air and a touch of wind. I made it home without any further difficulty- huzzah! John was just finishing up clearing the new snowfall and we trudged in through the garage skipping the once again snow covered back walkway, deck stairs, and deck to the kitchen door.
Maybe tomorrow the wind will have blown all this new snow away...one can only hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment