In the words of Sweet Brown:
Word, Sweet Brown.
(If you are unfamiliar with Sweet Brown’s original news clip, click here)
My story is not unique. I believe I read that the Blizzard of 2013 affected upwards of 24 million people. I’m just here to offer you a first hand view of digging out. As many of you know, I live in a condominium complex that’s full of rules, but also carries some limited outdoor maintenance benefits.
When I went to bed on Friday night (February 8), about five inches of snow had accumulated. The local New Haven television weather forecaster predicted a total of 10 to 12 inches by morning. However, my town was right on one of those lines they draw on weather maps that had 6-10 inches to the left and 12-24 inches to the right.
I woke up around 6:15am on Saturday, went downstairs, opened the curtains and saw this:
I guess I won’t be grilling for a while
Ut oh. How am I going to get the wiener dog out AND find a place for her to do her business?
Wading through thigh-high snow, I made it to the road and just put her down to do her thing.
At the same time, this is how my car looked:
How will I even begin?
The snow was still coming down. There was nothing to be done except go indoors and fire up the coffee pot. A landscaper-plow truck had gone by when I was outside and he told me not to bother even trying to dig out for a while. I offered him a fresh cup of coffee and told him to knock on my door whenever he wanted a refill.
When all was said and done, the Bubble ended with upwards of 30 inches of snow. Drifts went well to five feet and beyond.
Soon enough, cabin fever set in. By early afternoon, I had to go out and at least try to free my car. This is what I faced:
Really?
After 90 minutes of shoveling, this is all I had to show:
Ain’t nobody got time for that. It’s wine o’clock
I had achieved the goal of at least identifying where the snow ended and my car began, ever hopeful that the promised bob cat and pay loaders would take care of the mounds in front of my car.
After an hour break, I could no longer stand sitting idly indoors. And it was too early to open the bottle of wine. Further effort on Saturday brought me to this:
A couple of kind neighbors helped get me to this point.
I woke up on Sunday with arms sore in a way that they’d never before experienced. No choice but to carry on.
My main goal was to at least be able to free the car enough to move it forward a few inches and dislodge the snow’s hold on the back end. After clearing what I thought would be enough to let me rock it out of there, no luck. I shoveled more snow from around the tires and tried again. Still stuck. Finally, on my fourth attempt, I was able to move forward.
Be free, Tiguan, be free.
It’s not as if I can go anywhere because more than 75% of our town’s streets remain unplowed, but I accomplished my goal of freeing the Tiguan. My arms feel so sore and well-exercised that they ought to look like Jennifer Aniston’s. No such luck.
So, how much wine would you need if you just waited for it to melt?
Well, between Friday afternoon when the snow started to fall and early Sunday evening, I singlehandedly consumed two bottles of wine. So figuring it will take a couple of weeks to melt….I’m guessing I’d be a candidate for rehab.
You see? That’s proper snow. Proper igloo village building snow. Not the measly 2 inches that usually grinds the UK to a halt. Well done for getting the car out. I think that deserves a glass of wine…
Thank you, Pie! It’s looking as if today will be another housebound day. Schools are shut down. Many roads still not plowed. I used to mock the folks who did “panic grocery shopping” when even minute amounts of snow are predicted. I’ll bet they are rightly feeling smug right now as I sit here with no more wine and down to one egg.
Jennifer Aniston’s arms are overrated.
Oh, I don’t know, Robin. I’d take hers over mine any day. Of course they’d look totally out of proportion with the rest of my body
Yes, the rest of your body is much more fit than her arms.
I love you, robin.
Awwwwww………I love you too.
U r a trooper beyond belief. The thing that sucks is 1) It started on a weekend. 2) u work from home. Hope u, Phoebe & Tiguan r free to roam the bubble again soon.
Hmm…It seems I’ve missed some posts, although I am still “following” you. I’m sorry ’bout that. I’d forgotten about Sweet Brown. I wonder if she and Charles Ramsey are both single. They’d make a cute couple. (Thanks for the re-blog.)
Well, as you can see, I haven’t been posting a lot! I think you have an additional career as a matchmaker.