SPECIAL Blizzard February 2010 Edition ... aka The Day The World Closed

Welcome to my Winter Wonder-Mess!



It's official! The Blizzard Advisory has been lifted.
But NOT the Winter Storm Warning.
Gee, take a look at the pics I took after 24 hours of snowfall... I think our whole state has been closed until further notice.
(oh- and there is a 4ft fence UNDER the bent cypress trees in the pic... you just can't see it... but I SWEAR it's in there!)

I was awakened, suddenly and without apparent reason, around 5am. I think it was the sudden absence of sound after an hour of Thunder Snow- loud crashing booms and bright flashes of light while the snow fell at 4 inches an hour.
As I dozed off and on I realized there was no sound in the house at all.
Not a good sign when you have an electric heat pump heating system during a snow storm!
Upon fumbling my way to the first floor I found the power off and the house warm, but quickly cooling.

Being the NON-Fire-Starter that I am, I awoke ManChild and ordered he get the fire going immediately. Being the wonderful son that he is, and not wanting to freeze to death, he got a roaring fire going in our BEAUTIFUL wood-burning fireplace.
Thank God we had that or ... well the meaning of Family Togetherness would have been put to the test!

ManChild cleared the back deck of the 3 ft of snow, but left the dinosaur eggs that we found had been deposited on the table and chair overnight.






Problem-solver that I am, I found a stainless steel pan, with metal handles AND lid, filled it with water, then placed it on the coals in the fire to heat water for coffee.

Never has a cup of HOT COFFEE been appreciated as the one I made HeMan Hubby to keep him warm while shoveling the front walk to the driveway!

Alas! Our winter weather was not without it's small catastrophies!
Our poor Gazebo collapsed under the weight of the snow, becoming entirely engulfed by the swirling white stuff.

The bikes that were being stored UNDER the gazebo may not be seen until the Spring Thaw...which at this point looks like it might arrive with Easter.
The Weather Man is reporting another storm to hit our fair state sometime on Tuesday... a mere 3 days from now.

The dilemma we face is not what will we do between now and then, but rather, how much do we even attempt?

With a 60 foot pine tree blocking our driveway, we have no way to gain entrance to the rest of humanity.

This pic is looking down my driveway to the tree that fell during the night. It is laying across the drive at the halfway mark- the drive is 350 ft long with a 90 degree turn right where the tree is.
The trail thru the snow is the one we made to check out the tree. We were walking on about 2ft of packed snow and there is about another foot since we made the trek about 6 hours ago.


Maybe we can just cut away the dangling branches to create a tunnel to drive thru...
Sort of like entering Narnia through the Wardrobe...
Only different.