Weathering the Storm

We expected a big dose of winter drama overnight.  So far, the two-day snow and wind event has been pretty benign, at least at our house.

Bill and I have gained new perspectives about weather severity since moving from Great Northern Road to our lovely farm here in Selle.  

Last night, while driving to my sisters' house for the ZAGS game, we pulled onto Center Valley Road and then drove through a series of swirling, intense winds.

"Bet it will be drifted tomorrow, as will Selle Road," I said. 

That's when Bill reminded me of what we've been missing for eight years and WITH NO TEARS. 

That driveway. 

I've mentioned before on the blog that our driveway was somewhat of a tourist site during the winter months.  

Folks would drive by---if the road wasn't drifted shut---just to see how high the drifts had grown in our rather long, east-west driveway with no trees to stop wild wind from the north. 

We lived in a small pocket where weather could be relatively calm less than half a mile away but wild and woolly at our place. 

Snow depth had real meaning to us in those days, especially because we had no means to remove deep drifts other than killing ourselves with hours and hours of back-breaking shoveling. 

We remained at the mercy of some kind soul with a big rig and a bucket to clear out the series of 4-5-foot drifts, often for a good fee.  

My favorite anecdote about those times involves the "driveway roll" through the snow.  

That was the only way I could get from the road to the house after schools closed early one blustery day.  

When my first step into the driveway drilled a hole into the snow clear to my hip, I had no choice but first figure out how to get my leg out and then to lie down and roll.  It wasn't much fun, holding onto my books and all. 

True story.  

Imagine the entertaining sight for the onlookers driving by, watching this crazy woman out there rolling in the snow.  The trip from road to house took a good 5-10 minutes.  Clearing my entire body of powder snow before going in the house added extra time.

I liked it when the drifts would harden up.  Early in our tenure there, we learned to park cars at the end of the driveway when the wind started whooping it up.  

So walking to the cars without sinking,  with fence post tops as guides and standing four-five feet higher than usual provided a different perspective and a welcome but brief sense of superiority. 

We had to enjoy those moments cuz we didn't exactly care for any other aspects of being cut off from the world and hauling all our groceries, school books, etc. over that snow to and from the house. 

So, when we sit here in the midst of relative calm here in Selle and see the wind blowing snow down in the hay field, we don't mind. 

We know that this late winter storm probably irritates other people in less-protected areas, but we figure we paid our dues over those 30 years with that driveway on Great Northern Road. 

So, the big storm of early March moves on with more snowflakes falling outside the window and swirling winds in the fields.

Our nice little wood stove is keeping us toasty inside, and our horses aren't even suffering much out there in the barnyard with those beautiful big trees of Meserve's for shelter. 

Three days from now, the big snow will melt with higher temperatures, and a couple of days later, even warmer temps may help us start feeling the hints of spring. 

So, it's a "stay warm" happy Sunday.  ZAGS won big last night, and the "Academy Awards" are on tonight.  

Happy Sunday.  Stay warm through the storm.