Not Even a One Hour Delay???

Hope everyone had a good holiday break. Ours was somewhat uneventful, (sounded like a good excuse for being a bit behind with my blogs) but good. We managed to make one trip out of the big woods ... all the way to Connecticut ... for New Year's Eve. Between the weather and the frequent shopping excursions, it took us 11 and a half hours to get there but it was worth the agony. It was a gathering of the old college crowd from Lehigh so I am sure you can imagine the antics of the night. The Jello shots and beer pong (played on the makeshift kitchen island 'court') lead to a 2 am Polar Bear Plunge into the ocean followed by a group gathering in the steam shower ... limiting myself to only one Jello shot, I had the wherewithal to decline those entertaining endeavors. Unfortunately, I was not the only spectator, so next year's gathering will most likely be sans kids!

The rest of the vacation was somewhat relaxing; we had very little precipitation so there was no shoveling or packing down the trail ... just the usual ... moving wood. Even the squirrels have been cooperating; twice a day I bring them their own special stash of sunflower seeds and they no longer attempt to traverse the wire to the bird feeder. They now have so much food that yesterday I actually caught sight of one of them taking seeds from the supply piles and burying them in various locations in the yard ... in case I go away???

As annoying as they are, they seem to be quite smart. Upon returning from the bus stop yesterday and tending to my usual morning chores, I looked out the window to find not one, but six squirrels scurrying around the feeding area. Why? There was a storm moving in and they knew it instinctively. Hmmm ... maybe there is a way to eliminate all that wasted time listening to those inaccurate meteorologists from now on.

Weren't those squirrels dead on (no hidden meaning intended)! The snow started by about 8 am and continued for almost 24 hours. By the time I had to go out to get Garrick from the bus, we had at least six inches of the fluffy stuff and I was starting to get anxious about the 'packing down of the trail', being that I had never actually had to do this before. But, 'I did great!' Wish Garrick could have said the same on the ride home! I'm not sure how it was that he got to drive, but, when we were a tenth of a mile from the camp, he slid off the trail and we sunk. You'd be surprised how far a 550 pound machine can sink in about 30 inches of snow (about 29 inches for those of you who are having a hard time doing the math). It only took about a half hour for us to dig out, tramp down, and get that thing out of there ... who needs a walking group for exercise! Once home, I sent Garrick out to do the rest of the packing down, shovel in hand so to speak. As the neighbors haven't yet returned from their jaunt to Germany, Garrick went out to run down their section of the road and then came home to work on our turn around and the yard. The snow dissipated for a while after that and of course picked up again just as we were getting ready to retire for the evening. So, at 9:45 pm, Garrick set out one more time to work the section from our house to the main road.

You can imagine my disbelief when I awoke this morning at 6:04 am to the incessant beeping of Garrick's alarm clock, not the 6 am phone call from my friend, the school principal recording, canceling school. I jumped out of bed, looked out the window to see snow flakes falling by the light of the moon, picked up the phone to make sure it wasn't dead, and ran downstairs to listen to the radio. Not even a one hour delay!!! We had gotten ten inches of snow, it was still snowing, and there wasn't even a one hour delay!!!

As we had to pack down the trail on the way to the bus, I knew we had to get moving. I grabbed the ash bucket and tramped out in the dark, down the partially shoveled path, to dump yesterday's ashes. Then, I put the coals into the empty ash bucket and started up the fire. I threw some breakfast at Garrick and started baking the oatmeal custard that Caroline and I would be having when I got back, in an hour. Hurriedly, I put on my snow pants, my extra socks, my mukluks (yes, I did get my very own mukluks for Christmas), my balaclava, my jacket, my snowmobile helmet, my glove liners, and my gloves (mind you I have to dress like this EVERY time I go somewhere) and headed out to the snowmobile, truck keys and cell phone in my securely-zipped pocket. I let Garrick drive ... after I warned him that if he didn't drive slowly and sunk the sled and missed the bus, I would be very angry ... and we managed to make it out in fifteen minutes, almost three times as long as when the trail is well 'groomed'. We then went through the usual routine ... warming up the truck, clearing the snow off, and shoveling out before Skip arrived.

I headed for home with a slight detour down the North Road, a mile each way, to once again pack down the trail for the neighbors as they are expected to arrive back today. Having not riden a sled down that way as of yet, I was a bit hesitant to go, not knowing what obstacles I may encounter and more importantly, not knowing the turn-around situation. To turn around a snowmobile, you need a lot more room than one would expect, and if you don't stay on the section that has been previously packed down ... you sink. Well, I made it and managed to survive the turn around. Their turn around is actually a bit easier than ours ... we go around the house and since the house is on a bit of a mound, there is a slope that needs to be navigated very carefully or ... the sled tips and the riders end up sunk. My mother can attest to that as Paul had the courtesy of tossing her off the sled upon her arrival here over the holidays. And, on her second snowmobile ride, the one she took on her way out, he tossed her again. I guess Garrick comes by his operating skills honestly!

Well, the snow has finally stopped and the squirrels have yet to appear at the feeding station this morning. I guess that means we're not in for any more snow today ... or perhaps they are still sleeping off yesterday's banquet (or maybe that one squirrel is still trying to figure out where he put all those sunflower seeds). I suppose that means it's time for me to get out there and start moving some more of that snow. Heavy lifting but beautiful!

Karyn