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Dan Arbor - 2005-01-22 15:22:06 We even skipped the Wolverine this morning. Just finished outdoor chores. Whew. Scraped the drifts off the greenhouse (it's a fabric one). The barn has deep, DEEP drifts on the roof to worry me. One year I actually went up there and shoveled. Haven't got the wind or balance for it now. By the time I pulled the sled with water containers up the hill through the drifts I was panting a-plenty. The lung docs when they ask, "Are you short of breath?" define that by whether or not you are winded after carrying a sack of groceries up three flights of stairs. I guess they never heard of sledding uphill in a blizzard. At least all the barn cats (chosen and interlopers) were present, dry, and sleek. A bonus is that I get to play with an old tractor tomorrow.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-22 18:14:37 Dan: I know Summerfield Road. Driven on it many a time. Sounds like my southern-Monroe-County folks got inundated, as you were. We got a full foot of snow up here. Raymond: I'm happy to not read of any more tipping-tractor stories--that was too scary. May I ask, how are the animals dealing with our foot of snow? My dog went out briefly to gambol about but had a hard time gamboling in snow that came up to her shoulders--poor thing, she was nearly buried in snow (it was actually pretty funny to see). My neighbor came over and snowblew my driveway--when I thanked him effusively, he just modestly aw-shucked in response. And proceeded to snowblow my geriatric neighbor's driveway, my other neighbor's driveway, and two other neighbors' driveways. Every year kind neighbors do such things--I find it to be very Ypsi. For my part I shoveled a path from the back door to the gate, before feasting on roasted turkey, cozy at home.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-22 18:25:38 ...and the snowmobilers are roaring by on my street, which hasn't been plowed yet and is soupy and rutted in snow. There goes another one. VRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm.* * * * * * * * * * * * lynne - 2005-01-22 20:08:41 I have pretty much spent the day snowed in. My car is buried up to the windows by the snow plows. I went out and shoveled my walk and started to dig out the car. I have to go to work tomorrow morning. ugh* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-22 20:43:46 No fun digging out the car for work tomorrow. Plus the roads haven't been plowed yet from what I can see.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-01-22 21:39:15 We have it so easy... it's easy to forget how much winter must have sucked back then. No wonder they thought summer was glorious. Bet they didn't complain much about being "too hot". On the E. Coast we're in the process of getting almost two feet of snow. The wind is supposed to be 50 MPH tomorrow and they thing we might get a rare snow-thunderstorm tonight. I might as well have stayed in Michigan.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-23 14:29:39 I decided to motor out to Drake's Market to get a Sunday newspaper, a dozen brown eggs from Hudsonville, and an impulse item (to wit, an apple pie). I haven't yet started a tractor, so the drifts remained virgin. I enjoyed an exciting ride getting through the lane to the road. Pulling out of the drift where the car was parked, going down the slope past the house, and navigating around the curve where we have large puddles after a melt posed no problems. The car climbed 3/4 of the way up the slope toward the front yard before it stopped in a drift, sparkling snow mounding up to the hood. After several backings-and-forwardings, the old crate slithered through the glittering banks of fluff. The piles from the snowplows at the side of the road didn't look bad. Some shashaying to and fro while waiting for the traffic to clear helped create a path to get out. The car burst through to the blacktop with four-way flashers blinking. The rusty-but-trusty 1991 Festiva (45mpg) with 140,000+ miles seemed to enjoy the 300' trek to the road, and the return trip through the fresh ruts proved no threat at all. An amusing excursion. I hope the pie tastes as good as it looks.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-23 15:15:19 Anna: wow! Did that 2 feet ultimately materialize? Twice what we got here in Ypsi. Hope you stay safe. Raymond: glad you didn't get stuck. Some small cars, like Festivas, are remarkably good in snow. My old front-wheel-drive Geo Metro was the best snow car I ever had. I biked down to the store for dogfood. Everybody except one person had neatly cleaned off their piece of sidewalk, so the only challenge was getting over the plowed snowpiles where side streets connected to Forest, which was not a big deal. Beautiful out, sparkly blue-white with blue snow-shadows.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-01-24 09:49:32 Almost two feet -- 22 inches, though hard to difinitively measure because of huge snow drifts due to the 50 MPH winds (which also did materialize!). Thank GOODNESS I have a snow blower -- a small electric one, but it did the trick. I highly recommend them -- they are light-weight, aren't that bad for the environment (no emissions) and as long as the snow is not wet and heavy, they work really well. My father was supposed to just be visiting through early Sunday morning. Ended up having to stay much of the day because of the highways.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-24 09:52:32 Yep--heard on the radio Boston & East Coast got 2-3 feet, and power still out on Nantucket, due to 85-MPH winds. First I've heard about electric blowers.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-01-24 15:42:30 They sell 'em at home depot (and other big hardware stores) -- all the major brands have one -- black and decker, etc; the small ones are a couple hundred dollars, but I look at it as the money I've saved by not paying someone, plus it makes it easier to help out the guy next door who had back surgery. The cord is sort of inconvenient, but if your driveway and sidewalk are close to the house, then it works fine. I also have electric hedge trimmers. Those are a little less convenient since I reliably cut the cord with them at least once a year when I get really zealous. I keep some electrical tape on hand for repairs.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |