Snow in the driveway update:

After spouting off about waiting until the snow was over and then doing one snowblowing action was the way to do it...wrong.

Holy Toledo I stuck the yardstick into the snow and it stopped at 21 inches deep. I confidently rammed the machine into the pile and whoa it went in about six inches, I pushed a little harder, another six. My pea brain went into action, this is going to be a big stinking job. I cleared out maybe one third, but probably that's wishful thinking and headed for the house, tired, in a foul mood and hungry. I am re-marshalling my confidence that I can do this job. As Obama says I can do it. Well realistically I will do it, but not after much time and many breaks. One note on my side, the sun is shining brightly. I don't know how much heat is coming out of it, but I'm sure it will help some.

Moral of the story. If a big snow is in progress, don't wait too long before you have a go at the job. A couple times, or three times is better than the job facing me. Well you live and learn even when you are a hundred years old like me.

A sort of PS to the previous post, author unknown but certainly an Ohio resident in good standing.

Ohio Poem


It's winter in Ohio
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.
Oh, how I love Ohio
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Ohio
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground

Good morning from Ohio, the snow capital of the country this time around. It has been snowing non-stop since yesterday morning. It descends upon us in various styles, steady, or sometimes blowing, sometimes swirling, but always accumulating.
The weatherman says the real snow will come today with a blizzard as the topper.

The dictionary defines a blizzard as:

Quick definitions (blizzard)

noun: a storm with widespread snowfall accompanied by strong winds

noun: a series of unexpected and unpleasant occurrences

I have to smile at the last definition. Unexpected? not really, this is March and I live in Ohio. We always expect the worse kind of weather during this month. Unpleasant? Well certainly if I had to try and navigate somewhere, but we knew it was coming so we stocked up on things we would need such as desserts and other essentials.

The only essential thing I will have to do is when it finally decides to stop is: I and my immediate neighbors on either side of me will have to fire up the snow blowers and try to locate and clear our driveways. The seriousness of the snowfall is symbolized by the lack of the sound of snow blowers since it started. Usually we will blow the snow midway through a snow event and then again at the end, but this time the lack of snow blower engines struggling through the copious amounts piling up is kind of eerie. We are all of one mind I guess, wait it out and let it do it's worst and then we will fire them up and try our best to make a path to the street. Fortunately for my wife and I we don't have any place we have to be and as long as the power does not go off we are fine.

Actually as the wind which is still rather dormant, but every once in a while generates a good blow and whips the snow off the roofs and swirls it in great gusts and performs the magic of white outs, it begins to click in that this may be one of those snow events we will remember for years to come.

If the blizzard like winds do kick up and the snow starts blowing in four directions at once, I intend to make a short video (short because I'm not crazy yet and who wants to stay out in the middle of it for too long) which I will post here.

But until then, I will put on a fresh pot of coffee and watch my world turn completely white and know that soon, very soon although it seems crazy, all the snow will disappear to be replaced by new green growths and I can get to work laying more bricks down on my ever expanding patio. Later.....

After all the money spent, is there still no clear choice?

We here in the midwest are in the dog days of winter. It snows each day now and the temperatures are downright brutal. It's great days for the skiers in the area, they get to slide on the real stuff not the machine made kind of snow, but they must love it because when you're moving down that hill at a pretty good speed and the cold temperatures are enhanced by the wind factor it is reallllly cold. Not for me, but bless the skiers.

For me it is crank up the snow blower and clear my drive way time and then back in the warm house and into a book, or perhaps, or probably onto the computer. A nice, hot cup of new brewed coffee would hit the spot, and depending if I am dieting or not, a dessert of choice would be the topper.

Today is the Iowa caucus day, so that will be interesting later on tonight to listen to the talking heads trying to make sense out of what just occurred. If the pundits are right the day will end up with the top tier of candidates bunched together. Now isn't that a heck of a thing. After spending twenty six kajillion bucks they're just where they started, still trying to convince the people of Iowa this time, the rest of us later, that they each have the magic to lead us unscathed through the days ahead. I guess it's still a work in progress.

The goodwife is reminding me that she would like me to accompany her on a shopping trip. She has several gift certificates, now called gift cards, to redeem. I will of course because I like to make the goodwife happy and also it's a fifty-fifty chance that I might run across a place to relax and partake of a nice cup of coffee and a carefully selected yummy confection. So until next time from the heart of the country, have a safe and healthy day.