Sunday, February 10, 2013

Blizzardfest

We had a half day of school Friday as people got worked up over the big blizzard that was predicted for the northeast.  It was supposed to be huge and predicted snowfall amounts went anywhere from 2-4 inches all the way to 10-16inches for just our area alone.

And since it's New England, you have to say blizzard like this:  blizzud or if you're in a hurry, blizzid.

We got out at 11:05 and some of us who normally eat lunch together went to a burrito place that I love.  I kept thinking it was pretty funny that we had to leave school early and yet, here we were, fooling around instead of being locked up tight to hide from the weather.  It had started to snow before we left school, just as predicted,  but it was pretty minor, so I wasn't worried.

I did some errands and got home in the early afternoon.  With my spin class cancelled at the gym, I had a lot of free time to do stuff I haven't been doing.  I always promise I'll do chores that I put off, if only we can have a snow day.  So I did some chores.

By supper time, just as predicted, it was really coming down and there had been a driving ban imposed by the governor.  This put k-ster right over the edge.  We were in jail in our own home.  I didn't care, but I knew it was going to be ridiculously windy, so I worried about losing power.

We were mercifully saved from losing power for more than an hour or two during Hurricane Sandy.  I was pretty concerned that if we lost power this time, we'd be freezing in a matter of hours.  We have every old fireplaces and chimneys that the chimney sweep deemed very unsafe, so no fires for us. 

I can be a pioneer woman in so many ways,  but take away my electricity and I just lose it.  I can't explain.  It doesn't matter the time of year, so it's not just because I worry I will freeze to death.  There's something about knowing that it's not bedtime but I won't have power and I just hate it.

As the lights flickered often on Friday evening, I couldn't really relax, hearing about everyone losing power in neighboring towns.  We didn't actually lose it until we'd gone to bed and it was off for only about 6 hours.

I was so excited to hear that furnace come on!  My sister still doesn't have power, 48 hours  later, as I write this and she's only a couple of towns away.   But she has a generator and a fireplace, so I know she isn't freezing.

So, I got up Saturday morning to this view.

 
 
If you read all of the Little House on the Prairie series like I did, you always marveled at those tough winters and how they would say that the snow was so high, you had to go upstairs to see out.  When I got up and saw this, I was sure it would mean that just like Pa, I would have to string a clothesline out to the barn so I could find my way in this terrible storm and have something to hold onto.  I was living out a scene from one of those books!
 
In reality, it was just a very frosty window.  We had crazy drifts and it's unclear just how much actual snow we got, but it certainly wasn't 2nd floor window height!
 

 
 
I spent a good deal of Friday evening and Saturday during the day shoveling my doors and the walk and front door of my parents' house.  I have found that "keeping up with the storm" is very useful so I don't have to lift 2 feet of snow as I shovel.
 
However, it was so windy, up to 83mph at times, it just kept blowing back, so it was the most useless use of my time.  Ever. 
 
 
 
 
My usual modeling spot was overtaken by this huge drift, so I had to go with my second favorite place.


As can be expected, I brought sexy to the snowstorm by getting all gussied up.  I actually have my foot on the firepit, not just hanging in midair, but it was so windy, my camera blew off the grill twice while I was doing this, so I have no idea what was going on in this picture.  It looks like I lost my left foot but it was on top of the frozen snow.  And now that I look, it looks like the snow is a mile high. 

Maybe I was a mile high.

 
The first part of the storm was extremely wet and heavy followed by those tiny little flakes that are really powdery.  This meant that it was easy to start shoveling until you got to the frozen stuff.  It also meant that things froze shut.
 
Like the door.  I got out one door just fine, but when I went to go back in, some of the snow had melted around the handle and I couldn't push it in to open the door.  I went around to another door and it was so frozen solid to the frame, I couldn't open it. 
 
So I was stuck, trapped OUTSIDE of my house.
 
I finally managed to open the first door I tried, though later, that completely ripped off the house, but that's another story for another day.  Once I got inside, I pushed on the other door while k-ster pulled.
 
 
 
 
And then I pulled out my female McGyver tools and got to work melting that beeotch so we could get in and out without an issue!
 
And then I spent the next day shoveling snow while k-ster snowblowed.  Definitely some blogfodder there, so come on back!

5 comments:

  1. You are totally bringing sexy back with that look. I'm glad you stayed safe and warm. I'm pretty sure I would have been a casualty of the prairie - I am a priss :)

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  2. Bestill my heart, you referenced Pa's clothesline in the storm. Awesome.
    Glad you are all doing well through the snowy mess. That time shoveling was not wasted. It's called a prairie workout! No need for a gym.

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  3. Thanks for sharing your *blizzud* experience. I'm glad you didn't have to go without power for days like I've been hearing on the news.

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  4. Thanks for sharing your *blizzud* experience. I'm glad you didn't have to go without power for days like we've been hearing on the news.

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  5. You are rocking it! I can't believe how much snow you got! It is pretty though. Is it melting now?

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