First Storm

From our bedroom window ...



As far as winter storms go, it didn't amount to much, but for October it was enough to give us pause. It was also a little worse than it looks because the driveways and roads got pretty icy. SIL is anxious about getting his winter tires on because he does a lot of driving, but, naturally, everyone is thinking the same thing, and tire places are booked. But the snow will soon be gone because temperatures will go up to 11°C (52°F) on Friday, which should result in a decent Halloween for the kiddies. We don't usually bother with winter tires until mid to late November; hopefully, this storm was a one-off, and that schedule will still be viable this year.

Throwing Up

It is my plan for this to be my last post about winter and snow, but come on, this storm on top of everything else was something else. Despite appreciated family concerns about my wonky back, I felt that I had to go out and at least do something to attend to my own house's needs. So, I shovelled the short walkway from the driveway to the front door. Can you see how high I had to lift the shovel to throw the snow on top of the pile? Maybe I will call this post Throwing Up. (There, I just did it.)



Although the walkway isn't long, the snow, as you can see here was rather deep. Before I totally finished with it, I left some right in front of the door and asked Cuppa to come out and take a picture.



I think the next photo gives an idea about the height of the snow. Even still, with the camera angle and the depth perception problem, the mountain still doesn't look quite as it really is, which is probably about eight feet.



I didn't shovel the driveway though, or not most of it at least. Thankfully, our neighbour did both his side and ours.



But we both left the snow-plough-filled-mound by the edge of the street for Nice Neighbour with the snowblower. She had been out since about six o'clock in the morning helping out one person after another.



She said she even helped the guy up the street, the one with the little plough who never helps anyone. Guess what? He actually began do do his bit for some of his neighbours too. It makes me glad for him.

Where To Put It?

This morning we are in the midst of a lull in our most recent snow storm. This is a two-part storm, the first beginning around mid-afternoon yesterday, the second part due anytime. Come to think of it, my peek out the window right now indicates that it seems to be beginning already.

In this crazy-near-record-snowfall winter, we are running out of places to put it. At least part of the pile on the front lawn is now as taller or taller than I, and I'm not short, so I'm not sure where to put yesterday's four or five inches, never mind the 8 or more inches that are projected to fall today. Yesterday, I trimmed back some of the bank at the edge of the drive as I as having to swerve to get in and out of the driveway. It's crazy I tell you. Elsewhere, the guy who is contracted to plough out Thesha's neighbour called to inform her that he wouldn't be by ... because there is nowhere left to plough it to. Incredible.

We had planned to take in The Other Boelyn Girl when we drove into the city yesterday to take care of a few errands, but the snow was already falling by mid-afternoon, so we did the wise thing and returned to our town. We stopped at the grocery store on the way in to pick up a few neccssities for what promised to be a lock-down weekend but were forced to endure a very long checkout line because everyone else in town was doing the same. Once home, we didn't stay nestled, however, because SIL was called out on an emergency, and Thesha is so sick with a miserable cold that we dropped over there to spend the evening to help out with Nikki-Dee. When SIL returned and we finally departed their place at 11:00, the streets were already clogged with inches of snow. Not many vehicles were out, but there was some slipping and sliding of the few that I did see. Nevertheless, we arrived home quite safely and plan to spend a cozy day indoors.

Despite our eagerness to see the back of this long and very Canadian winter, there is something cozy about being forced to stay snug inside while the beastly lion roars on ... and on ...