Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Olympia - snowmageddon

When I went to bed, there was a fine mist of rain/snow.  The radar showed a lot of green coming our way.  I slept peacefully.  Rain is better than snow.

This morning?    

O. M. G.  

At least 8" deep, and it's still coming down.

Heavy wet snow.

No wind.

Everything is thickly flocked.

Beautiful.

Click pic to enlarge. 

Have called in the calvary on this episode.

I'm hunkered in.  May be dug out tonight or tomorrow.

What a wallop. 

Things to notice with deep snow:

I shoved the breezeway door opened and stuck my head out.  The quiet.  No traffic noise.  No industry.  All muffled.  Delicious!

The house is warm.  With a thick blanket of insulation on the roof and no wind even a brick house becomes cozy.

I checked the snow - it's absolutely PERFECT packing snow.  Were I even 5 years younger and less injuries, I (even at my elder age) would be out there creating something, anything with this bounty.

No school today.  But I've got $$ saying I won't see any kid around here out playing in this wonderful stuff.  Jeez, they don't know what they're missing....    

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Later :

For grins and giggles I wondered if the tuned up sno-thrower might help me clear a narrow path to the bird feeder.  Temps were just below 30F and pleasant so ... what the heck.

Hey!  It cleared a path.  Through 8+ inches of wet snow?  Are you kidding me?

So I wondered again.  The turnaround would be awful, but the long driveway - might I get any headway there?  Yep.  I did 2 border rows, but the going was awful, too slippery.  DOH!  I had bought some Yak Traks in Fall.  There - snow studs for the boots.  WAAAY better traction.

The end of the driveway was too deep for me, but since it was a snow day - the kid across the way was out shoveling his driveway.  I asked him to do the driveway apron and then clean my deck.  He said sure and I popped him some cash.  Win win.  (Seems he had a little help himself from a couple of the little kids down the road. LOL)

Meanwhile, I started on the turnaround.  Could I do it?  Well, yes - but really a bear.  I had to move snow to make way for snow then move that snow and each time I threw it, it got denser so in the end I was really really tired and my bad ankle was hollering.

The sno thrower worked really well.  It did overheat several times, but I wasn't surprised.  After a cool down it started back up.  What a trouper.

So there.  Armageddon stuff done after all.  :-D

With a little help from my friends....     

P.S.  Back inside, warm and dry and DOH!  I had forgotten to fill the bird feeder.  What a maroon.  *sigh* 


5 comments:

  1. Times have sure changed, haven't they? When I was a kid a thousand years ago, a snow like this meant everyone was out ALL DAY playing in the stuff. Snow forts, sledding, snowmen, snowball fights. Our parents had to drag us kicking and screaming inside to eat. Now?--the little wimps are sitting in front of their screens transfixed by video games, getting fatter and lazier by the minute.
    Glad you're getting some help with that snow. The wet stuff may be great for packing into snowballs, but not to shovel.
    Take care, and enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of it all.

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    1. Yeah, back in the 50s when I was only as tall as a snowbank, we'd be out ALL DAY LONG - only coming in when soaked to the skin and bone tired. We sledded, did all the things you mentioned, built igloos... it was just fantastic. Faces red and chapped, fingers numb... oh - the glory days.

      But yeah, Craig will bring his lawn tractor and do both our driveways today/tomorrow. We don't need to be anywhere so the stress level is very low - while the beauty appreciated (and memories) is off the charts.

      Hope you got some of this stuff too! Take care.

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  2. Very impressive, both you and the snow blower! It is beautiful stuff but I am glad we don't have it. It was mid-40's here today with 20mph winds and we did errands....not a pleasant thing.

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    1. And it was sooo important to get it off the driveway. 8+" of wet snow would turn into concrete as it is going down to 7 or colder tonight. I was very surprised at the sno-thro doing that stuff. Nothing pleasant here yet until the weekend.

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  3. Yak Traks! That's what I need. Not so much for snow (of which yours is very pretty to look at from a distance, LOL) but we get a lot of ice.

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