Sunday, January 20, 2019

A quiet day today


Years ago, in 1950, my grandma came down for Thanksgiving, wearing a spring coat. It began snowing in the afternoon, then overnight, and all day Friday, and all weekend, too, according to legend. 

It was more than a week before Grandma went home. She and mom caught up on mending, including all the socks that had to be darned. How my brothers loved wearing "those darned socks" that Grandma passed to them, with that bad word attached.



Today was that kind of quiet, surreal. Laura spent hours outside, on three major snow moving jobs, all in our drive, and one more to help Cathy next door. I saw Ron across the street pushing an electric shovel, and that's the first time in three years I've seen it out.

Next to Ron, a young couple who came a year ago last fall. They are round and rolly, like Tonka Willow figures. He came out and shoveled for an hour this morning. He moved a lot of snow. He came out later and shoveled fiercely, but then decided to make a dash for it.



He called his wife out, put her behind the wheel. I watched him give her steering directions by circling his fingers. Then he began pushing, to no avail. He hadn't cleared behind and the drift was to the bumper. He got the shovel, she plied the snow brush. They reduced the barrier by half.



Back as they were, she steering, he pushing mightily. Before he heaved, he looked both ways, as if there were anything on the road. At last she was out and pointed the right direction. He kissed her goodbye, and as her pink plush jammies went back up the steps, I gave him an arm pump and a thumbs up. He grinned and went to work (I assume).



I hemmed sixteen towels from the last warp and wound several bouts of the new warp. I'm dead in the water, though, until my last order of warp arrives from Kansas. Diane told me on Saturday, when I ordered it, they'd had six inches.



When the snow began. The last picture I took, several shots above, the snow was an inch from the bench.

29 comments:

  1. Oh my. I am with Ms. Moon. And as our temperatures continue to ramp up I wish that Mother Nature had some understanding of the concept of moderation. World wide.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, you did get hit! Not us this time, but certainly other parts of Ontario. -Jenn

    ReplyDelete
  3. So far most of this snow has missed us. Don't tell anybody though. I'd hate for it to realize there was an area it missed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We've got it too Joanne and we are just sitting and watching everyone else deal with it. What a joy. There is a bend to our building right in the middle of our unit (makes for an interesting layout) and when the wind blows the snow in to the middle of the bend it creates a nifty little snownado for us to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are all more diligent than I am....I spent most of the day reading. And some Britbox.

    ReplyDelete
  6. And for a change, our winter "storm" consisted of three inches of snow followed by enough rain to wash it mostly away! I'm glad you don't have to go anywhere right away and can sit and watch the rest of the world try to dig out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Snowed again today, but most of the last falling is hard ice now. I know this because I have been chipping off chunks to melt down to flush the toilet. My butt is numb from all the TV watching! The well digger will be here early in the morning. I am bored beyond belief!

    ReplyDelete
  8. We only got a little snow and lots of rain and wild wind in SE PA.. They are telling us to expect flash freeze tomorrow. Did you get the 30” they predicted.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hari OM
    Now that's the real stuff. Fab - if you don't have to go anyplace. Fun - if you're young. Fine - if there's no hurry... I do love that 'silence' though! Right... it's 3am and I'm off to see the moon. YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's a mighty dump o' snow! Good thing Laura is a young and healthy snow shoveler!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That looks like a good day for staying in and baking bread, forget the snow boots.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Reminds me of my days in Montana. Also reminds me that we had to clear areas in the back yard so that our short legged dog wouldn't get lost in the snow when he went out to take care of business. Having a quiet day like you did could be a good thing I think.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  13. It all looks so pretty, white and sparkly, but I can't imagine having to live through it. not being able to go anywhere without first shovelling a path, wearing so much clothing I'd resemble a polar bear, the shivering, the frostbite. I've only read about those things, but that's enough for me.

    ReplyDelete
  14. We need snow like that. It brings people together.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I guess this was major for a lot of us in a lot of places.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've never seen "true" snow in such quantities.

    ReplyDelete
  17. it took me forever to finally see the difference between the two shots of the bench. I guess you got the 12" or more. and how the hell does an electric snow shovel work?

    ReplyDelete
  18. We didn;t get a huge amount of snow, but that little bit did drift something fierce. We are battling extreme cold though.

    ReplyDelete
  19. That's a lotta snow.
    Nothing like being warm and snug indoors watching someone else outdoors!

    ReplyDelete
  20. The snow wars have been underway here for a few months now. More to come!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I truly hope you do not have to go anywhere until this is gone. That's a lot of snow!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh boy that is a lot of snow! Hi I did send you an email, I hope you received it!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This has brought back such memories from my 35 years in Chicago. Please be careful on the snow.

    ReplyDelete