Surviving a New England Winter

Up to his nuts in snow

So this has been an interesting winter in New England. We already have about three feet of snow on the ground and they're predicting another blizzard this week - dumping another foot of snow.

My front walk looks like a luge.

Early in the season, I bought a cover for my shiny stainless grill. It lasted exactly 1 day before it split and dissolved into a puddle around my grill.

Before the next storm, I went to Home Depot and bought a heavy duty tarp. I thought I was pretty clever (the tarp cost $8). I tied it around my shiny stainless grill and smiled, incredibly pleased at the pretty blue shroud.

When the storm was over, as I was shoveling, I was almost blinded by the sun reflecting off my shiny stainless grill.

*sigh...

I figured it probably flipped off and was under the snow close to the grill. So, in a fit of pissed off redheaded pique, I shoveled a space about 4 feet wide around the shiny stainless grill - no pretty blue tarp.  It is apparently somewhere in the half acre of back yard, under three feet of snow.

*big sigh...

And now, they're predicting another foot of snow.  So, today I decided I am not spending another dime on grill covers - and I improvised.

Trash bags 'n duct tape

Universal truth - Duct tape is like the force - light on one side, dark on the other and it holds the universe together.

Sorry for the lapse... I was on a secret mission

My apologies for the long silence -

BUT....

I have some news...

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!

Hallelujah!!!

Funny how life works out. I spied the job posting on Indeed.com (Great site!). It was a position with a local non-profit organization that I'd actually done business with at one of my previous jobs.  The idea of working for them had never crossed my mind but it just seemed to jump out at me from the list. 

Ah, what the hell.

So, I shot them my resume and a cover letter, got a call the very next day and interviewed the day after that. The next day I had an offer.

I started my new position two days after I filed for my last available week of unemployment benefits. 

And right after the transgender blizzard (Nemo aka Charlotte) dropped a few feet of snow on us.

Trans-storm Tootsies

This storm was relatively gentle on us - we didn't lose power and were able to dig out without much drama although it did take 7 hours to clear our driveway and walk with the snowblower.  But I think I would've walked the 8 miles to work in that snow if I had to.

I always believed that everything happens for a reason and this job with this particular organization coming at this particular time... was destiny.

It's a small office populated with people who are positive and supportive and respectful of each other and the customers.

I have an office to go to, a job to do that is challenging and fulfilling and I am surrounded by genuinely nice folks.

I am beary, beary happy.

Snowmageddon

This is Son O’Mine’s first winter as a licensed driver. So before the last storm, he backed his car into the driveway so he could easily drive out after the snow.

Yeah, not so much.

According to the CT.gov website’s “Weather Fun Facts” we normally average about 12.3 inches of snowfall in January.

This January, we received 54.9 inches.

For those of you who don’t live in climates where it snows, let me try to describe what it’s like on the roads here. Did you ever watch the Luge on the Winter Olympics? The athlete lays down on a teeny sled and is shot down a steep hill through a tunnel of ice. Here’s a shot I took on my drive home yesterday. (For size reference, I drive a Jeep Cherokee)

 

In some spots, the piles are so high and wide that there is barely enough room for two cars to pass with a quarter of an inch to spare.

But we handle it. We New Englanders are a stoic bunch. We know the drill – as soon as we clear the driveway, the plow will pass by and shove more snow in. Each time we unearth the mailbox, the plow will go by and decapitate it again. That’s the circle of life here.

No, the problem we have now is that we’ve run out of places to put it. I actually found myself standing in the driveway holding a shovel full of snow and wondering how much I could pack into the trunk of my neighbor’s car. And every time I see that US Postal Service TV ad – “If it fits, it ships”… I wonder how much we could send to the relatives in Florida …

Today is Feb 2nd. Yesterday, we were on the receiving end of another 5-8 inches of snow and today - the frosting on the cake - sleet and freezing rain. Winter Trifecta!

The one ray of sunshine today – the groundhog predicted an early spring. He’d better be right or we may just go all Sarah Palin on his ass.

And how’s the Bear handling all this mess? He’s hibernating.

Nothin but nose, baby… Nothin but nose.