December is the dark month, January is the cold month, February is the short month, and March is the snowy month

We have already had the opportunity to discuss December, and how it is the dark month. The fact that January is cold and February is short are self-explanatory, though we may discuss the cold later on. 

 

I would like to take today to show a couple pictures for those of you who are less than willing to believe me when I start telling stories about the snow.

This first picture is what I found when I opened the front door of my house on Sunday afternoon.  I shoveled it out, all the way to the ground, and actually found boards, but the next time I opened the door, it was like this again, so I gave up. I've started sticking the snow I shovel either into a rubbermaid tub to melt, or directly into the storage bin. This way, I have somewhere to put the snow besides on top of other snow that I'll have to shovel later. I heard from one of my aids this morning that they used a dustpan to dig themselves out, as their drift went higher, and they just didn't have the leverage. I'm not sure why this picture is so bright on the top, it was a rather dark and dreary day. Probably just a reflection of the flash.

I have told people about my snowdrift before. I have also mentioned the snow that piles up outside my door. It was once said that we don't really get snow that deep, just that the snow blows up against the door. In my defense, I would like to submit the following picture. Notice, if you will the snow piled up against the door, the very slight depression, and then the snow drift, you will see that my porch really is buried about as far as it can be.  In the back, you will notice Ken's house, and how he has his own drift starting. Between this drift and his house, there is a road. There were not a lot of people on it this day, for some reason.As a little piece of perspective, I offer this shot, which goes along the side of my house. You can see the length of this snow drift, and get an idea of how high it is. That's my door frame on the left, and the roof line at the top. The drifts in the front and back actually got so tall that high school boys climbed up them and walked around on my roof last night.  *Thanks high school boys, thanks.*  At the very end of the snowdrift, you can see, sort of off to the right hand side, the honey bucket bin (more on that later), and half obscured by the falling snow, Mary's house. Her house is only 12 feet away from the end of my house, and my house isn't that long.  To the right of Mary's house is her father Rich's house. It's only 4 feet away at the closest point. 

This morning, to avoid spending an hour digging myself out, I simply dug enough of a space to stand, so I could close the door. Then I climbed up on the porch railing, and rolled out into the road. Luckily, there are not a lot of people out and about at eight a.m. on a Monday morning.  

My plan was to borrow a shovel from the maintenance guys and dig a path back in this afternoon. Then I would spend parts of the evening digging out the rest of the porch, so it would look nice. In a bizarre twist of fate, the roommate wrenched her knee this morning, trying to follow my plan. I assumed she would dig herself some stairs to get up on the porch railing (not everyone is as freakishly tall or long-legged as I am) and roll also. Alas, she tried to follow my actual footsteps, which led her to a painful situation.  She talked to the principal this morning, and he sent a boy over to shovel the path open again. So there is one thing off my list of things to take care of.