A Tennessee boy such as myself really gets a kick out of winter, having only been introduced to hints of it as a child. As a kid, we had wet snow enough to have snowball fights galore, heavy snow followed by alternating warm and cold air enough to crunch through the crusty snow to build jagged snow forts, and freezing temperatures with constant rain enough to see whole trees encased in inch-thick layers of ice as if bronzed for preservation. Unfortunately for many of those trees, their branches, trunks, and roots were often over-burdened by their heavy protective coating. This past week I had business in Maryland, and I saw how towns unaccustomed to vast snow move snow. Here two weeks after being buried, their sidewalks were still obstructed and parking lots only serviced a very low capacity. I could tell these plow operators had very little experience in strategic snow piling, because it seemed like their primary objective was to just get the snow out of the way of moving vehicles (even if it meant having squatty piles strewn about ALSO in the way). I went walking through a park during my trip, and I noticed toppled trees everywhere. Not just toppled, but uprooted. Upturned roots clinging to the soil which betrayed the stalwart trunks.
On the other hand, our New England plows are very agile and creative in choreographing their motions and the placement of snow. Jen will be the first one to tell you that when I hear the snowplows coming down the street, I race to the front window to watch the magic of the big machines and to wave to the operators. In December we had two big storms which brought the bulldozer to move the pile. January brought one more. A few weeks ago we got 7-8 inches made for nice snow-man rolling. No bulldozer, though, as we were forecasted for a warm rain, which cleared our yard. So the snowpile is "three storms big." In seasons past, it has been fun to see how far up the mountain the AWD vehicle can climb. Isn't that why we buy Subarus anyway? Today coming home from church, I felt a longing to ascend the mount. But I was in the corolla.
Here's what happened.
Joe: I wonder how the Corolla would do climbing the snowpile? {I began to creep along the icy ramp from the driveway to the crusty mountain}
Jen: Joseph, this is not the Outback! {In her most stern, don't even think about it kind of voice.}
I took a moment to reflect on how last winter, on a Sunday afternoon cruise down a dirt road during "the thaw" I got the corolla stuck. To be fair, we would have been fine had the tires not slipped to the side into the trickle of rutted stream as the snowmelt rushed down the hill. Turns out a tire in the stream and a tire on the ice doesn't make for very good traction on a two wheel drive. We fretted a few minutes while trying to push/rock/reverse to no avail, until a couple of huge pickups on their way to a muddin' adventure came barreling down the single track road. With a little effort, they pulled us out of the runoff and up the icy slope back to the pavement.
Joe: Yeah, I guess we don't even have a towrope... {In a longing, "this close" sort of way.}
Jen: That's right, we don't have a tow rope!
{Pause}
Joe: We need to get a tow rope!
Ian: Yeah, or we could buy a tow truck!
Ian and I were so proud of thinking of a way to extend our ice ascension adventures.
Okay, I guess that's enough of story time. Now I'll give some information. We've had plenty of snow, but mostly in the early winter. You can review our precipitation and temperature history if you want. As of today, February 28th, there is no snow at all in the backyard or our forest, and there are only smidgeons of piles along the sidewalk, as heavy rain this week cleared most of our snow. BUT: yesterday I thought I'd try to put some bulbs in the ground that I didn't get in before the frost last fall. EVERYwhere I dug, I could only get down about 2 inches before hitting the frozen soil. So our muddy mess is still only surface deep. Here are some pictures from earlier:
This is from January 18th, which was our last snow which contributed to the official snowpile. You can see the pile back there at the time of our snowfort.
By February 2, the snow fort had begun to melt. A week or so later after this picture was taken, we got another snow which layered the 7-8 inches on everything, and a snowman was born in the middle of the snowfort. But the bulldozer didn't contribute more to the snowpile.
Here's a side-view of the pile as it stands as of February 2. Add a little fallen snow, rain, and alot of wind, and it's a constantly evolving pile.
So now, the last day of February, I leave it to you to predict when we will be rid of this frozen mass at the corner of our driveway. Leave your official guesses in the comments of this post, and let the annual tradition commence to start!
