There's SNOW business . . . .

They're blasting for avalanches up at Schweitzer. We had a wrong-number call this morning, and it turned out to be one of my friends calling her workplace to tell 'em she was stuck in her driveway and wouldn't be making it in until later. We've already called a man named Shane who put an ad for shoveling roofs on the free Sandpoint Online Classifieds. He's coming to the Colburn farm to shovel off the house and two sheds.

A plane slid off Spokane's runway yesterday and made national news. KHQ-TV spent the day somewhat like Communications Central exchanging the "piled higher and deeper" stories and photos along with hundreds of cancellations. Spokane set a record yesterday for the most-ever snow within a 24-hour period.

Bill got the new 4-wheel drive Kubota tractor and loader stuck last night. We shoveled furiously, and then he used the 2-wheel drive '54 Ford to pull it out. He had me sit on the new one while he pulled, and I have to admit being a bit freaked out once it started moving and continued to move up a mound of snow leaving me looking down on an incline. I was surprised and pleased, though, when he unhooked the chain, and I was able to drive the tractor out of its predicament.

Later, Bill told me he got it stuck again but was able to use the loader to maneuver out of that one. He managed to get both tractors up here to the house and cleaned out the driveway and parking area. In the meantime, we kept hearing about the upcoming snow storms scheduled for all week long.

Spokane must have closed down completely because we have no Spokesman-Review this morning. The kids in this area were not included among the long, long list of school closings because they were already scheduled to be off today while teachers finished their semester grades and recorded them into the system. There was hope that the teachers might not have to go today, but that was dashed.

So, here I sit after the phone has been ringing off the hook this morning. The most recent call came from Shane who said he's been digging his truck out all this time and then remembered his ladders are over in Priest River. He asked if my sisters have ladders. They do, so I must hurry and get over to the Colburn place to find the ladders so Shane can shovel the roofs and get them cleared off before tomorrow's storm which is supposed to rival this weekend's "event."

Then, I'll probably come back over here to the Lovestead and do some more shoveling, especially around the barn door where the freezing ground is heaving, making it extremely difficult to open and shut the doors. At least, it's a drop-dead gorgeous day here, and our eyes can get some enjoyment while our bodies keep getting pounded with more and more work.

Snow business is brisk for sure, and one of these days, God willing, I'll have something else to talk about. How many more days of January????? And, for all who speculate. NO! This does not come close to the Winter of '68-69. It's got a long ways to go, but I have a feeling people are just as tired of this one as they were 40 years ago.