To purchase the new used vehicle I needed to visit the bank. The weather people said that snow squalls are expected every single day between now and Saturday, when the bank is closed. The bank is usually a 35 minute drive away, on the highway. Yesterday the roads were really bad, so much so that one of the vehicles where Attila works was damaged in an unavoidable accident, sliding into a tree, even though it wasn’t moving. The roads were ploughed yesterday, but they were not in good condition today.
All morning this morning I fretted, and fretted, and fretted, about making the trip into the bank. It would be complicated, whenever I chose to do it. Attila would have to pick me up, which sounds simple, but his schedule is so tight that taking even that 15 minutes away from his work day would have to be carefully arranged. I knew this. And I fretted.
Finally, around noon, my stomach began to really hurt, and I thought, “this is stupid”! I am not going to spend the next three days stressing over trying to get to the damn bank!
So I called Attila, who came home to pick me up. Then I dropped him off at his workplace, and headed down the highway, off to the bank. Today the roads were BAD, snow packed into white ice, with crusty mounds of frozen slush over all; but visibility was good. I took my time, driving according to road conditions, it took an hour to get to the bank. Once there it was quick work to take care of all the financial odds and ends that needed doing. The next stop was the gas station to fill up with fuel, there are no gas stations where we live. Finally I was on my way home. The sky was darkening, the road conditions were still BAD, and the drive home took another hour. Just as I neared the village where we live, the odd snowflake began to drift out of the sky, and the wind began to pick up. By the time I arrived home it was snowing. I had arrived home just in time!
Of course, since the car was now in my possession, a trip into the village to collect Attila from work was necessary.
Other than my big adventure visiting the bank, the day was quiet. Laundry was washed and hung on racks in the living room to dry. This is still the best way to humidify the air in the living area. Mom and my sisters, who sent us home with date squares, homemade pie, Chelsea Buns, and a loaf of homemade bread, made the day’s meals a treat! Note, the pie and the Chelsea Buns, that were sent home with us, didn’t make it through the first night! Paying bills and filing has been completed, for the moment. Bills are like unmade beds, always in need of attention. Pictures of snow have been snapped, transferred from camera to computer, and filed, in hopes that they represent a blip in the weather, that the snow will melt away completely, and not come back until Christmas, at the earliest.
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At least we aren’t in Buffalo!!
From the weathernetwork.ca
“Buffalo buried under 6-feet of snow (Reporter can barely walk)
It’s the worst snow they’ve seen in 40 years and it’s not done quite yet. Details here.”
Worldly Distractions
Weather
SNOW SQUALL WATCH IN EFFECT
-7°C
Date: 3:14 PM EST Wednesday 19 November 2014
Condition: Light Snow
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Visibility: 5 km
Temperature: -6.8°C
Dewpoint: -9.2°C
Humidity: 83%
Wind:SSE 17 km/h
Wind Chill: -13
Quote
“True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise; it arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one’s self, and in the next from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions.”
Joseph Addison
1672-1719
Wow, Maggie what an ordeal. I can remember many a time having to drive in snow storms upstate, NY. It is not fun especially at night. I would be so hesitant in my older years to venture out. I guess you had no choice. Glad you are home safe. Is Attila home too? You had to go back out and pick him up, right?
The photo is so nice despite everything. Love the faint pink hue in the background. Are you still with electric?
I did have to venture back out to pick up Attila Nora, and the roads were getting worse. We arrived home without any problems, and Attila set right to removing the snow from the drive. The electric has been on, and seems fine. It is not nearly so windy today, so maybe we won’t lose the hydro again, fingers crossed. Attila has a fire going, we have had a lovely meal, and it is still snowing out there, lol!
The old saying “red sky in the morning, sailer take warning” applies to the photo, that is a shot of the sun coming up, red sky, storm coming. The colours don’t last long, I usually stand and gaze at them while I have the chance.
Maggie, I’ve been thinking of you and wishing you well with that nasty white stuff descending on you already. Special best wishes for Attila as well, since he works out in the weather.
Maggie, Glad to know all is well and that you are well fed and warm!
Glad to hear the snow started up later in the day so you could move around a bit and get things done. I’m sure you must be an excellent driver in the white stuff, but winter weather can always bring surprises.
We also have about 6 inches of snow, now. And with the strong wind some of the snow has been driven to more than a foot in places.
I really like your quote about true happiness being of a retired nature. There was a time where I really felt happy like that. I’m hoping I can find a way to reclaim that kind of peace/happiness. I need to let go of some of the concerns I carry and remove myself from the pomp and noise…
Thanks Wendy, winter has arrived early here in North America! Attila is grumbling, which is not like him at all! Once he has all the shovelling done he will be much more stoic about the weather, but for now he is having to shovel his way to materials in the yard at work, and he finds it very tiresome. One of our big investments is winter clothing for Attila, so he is well attired for the weather, from his head to his toes!
The up side from Attila’s point of view, is that if this is a winter without much sun, he will be “getting all of it”, working out there!
Thanks Nora, all is well here at the country house. As much work as wood heat is, it is reliable no matter what the weather!
You are so right Teri, you just never know what is around the corner when you are out on the roads! Lots of corners to go around on the highways here, and totally unforgiving rock cuts. If you slide into a rock cut, you are a goner! One of the advantages though, of these country roads, is that the traffic is very light when the weather is bad, so usually it is just mother nature you are watching out for!
The thing about heavy snowfall in urban areas is, where do you put it all! Here, if we get several feet of snow, we have lots of open space to shovel it into. Where I lived in the city, the yard was the size of a postage stamp, and the snow piled up almost out of sight when we got a lot of snow. A little goes a long way in the city!
Wishing you great success in finding your happiness Teri. I hope it just sneaks up on you and surprises you!
Paul and I were watching the news about the incredible snowfall in Buffalo, NY, last night and the height of the snowbanks was so high, we wondered where they will put it all… I said, couldn’t they just put it into the Lake? Paul said that if the snow was “treated” (i.e. salt/chemicals ?) maybe it is banned from putting the excess snow into one of the lakes. Do you know? Can the snow be moved into a Great Lake?
If this week is any indication of the winter this year, it’s going to be a long winter! We have lucked out here on the North Shore of Boston. It’s sunny today and Paul is out lobstering! I feel for those people in Buffalo and farther north, like you in CA, having all that snow to deal with. We are too old for this!
Bex, clean snow can go into the Great Lakes, it has been done. I was just reading a story a gentleman who grew up near here was telling online. In 1947 he was a teenager and worked through his Christmas holidays shovelling snow onto flatbed train cars, which were dumped into the river, which led directly to Lake Huron. People back then did not expect “Florida” roads from November to April, they knew better. Humans have been losing the ability to adopt to the climate!
I think the human species is suffering from infrastructural insanity.
As for now, I am not sure if they can put the snow into the Great Lakes. Certainly I would think that clean snow, which this storm has delivered in quantity, could be dumped into large bodies of water.