Confessions of a Grandma

I had an appointment to get snow tires put on the Prius first thing this morning. That was pretty timely since we had some snow last night.  The roads were clear, but my driveway is a sheet of ice.  It is good that it is a flat driveway so I did not have trouble getting out.  I did slip and slide later, walking out to the mail box, but I did not fall down. One winter day when I was in high school, the school parking lot and side walks were terribly icy.  I had gotten by car and was walking toward the school's front door with an armload of books (Backpacks were for military hikes back then, I guess.  I only remember carrying books in my arms right through college.)   I made it from the parking lot, across the driveway, and I was just stepping up onto the walkway.  As I stepped, I slid.  Somehow in the disjointed dance I performed in trying to maintain my balance, I did a rather inelegant flip and landed on my rump with books raining down upon me...

Last night, we had a first real snowfall of the season.  Only about an inch, but the trees look pretty. This is what passes as a bright, sunny high noon in Vermont.  There are a few blue patches visible and the sun did peek out enough to cast a shadow or two.  I told Mike I didn't think he should be out shovelling wet snow when he has not had his check up from the last cardioversion.  I went out to do it myself.  Fortunately, some random passerby felt the need to turn around in our driveway even though there is a paved public drive clearly visible 100 yards down the road.  That added iced tracks to the job.  Exercise, good exercise for me. I do love the look of fresh snow blanketing the world as much as anyone, but, seriously, this is what it really looks like before too long.  Gray and dirty, not so pretty at all.

Not more snow.  Mike continues to read the Burlington Free Press on line so he really didn't need the e-mailed notice that we should not expect newspaper delivery today.  Apparently, after a day of heavy rain yesterday, it turned cold again in Vermont and snowed heavily through the night.  Roads are closed, schools are closed, any non-essential travel is discouraged, and even essential travel is nearly impossible.  Keep in mind that Vermonters typically laugh at places that shut down after a couple inches of snow. I can't say that I miss any of that.  In fact, I am kind of having an anxiety attack just thinking about it.  I'm sure there will still be snow on the ground when we return to VT in April. Pre-retirement, Mike got really anxious at this time of year because of the real possibility of flooding.  His shop was (still is) located next to the Winooski River.  An ice jam once sent the river water over the banks and flooded the shop....

It was still snowing when I took this picture this morning. It snowed until around 3:30 this afternoon. All the snow knocked out our electricity for about eight hours. We got up and went out for breakfast and did not bother to even shovel the driveway. It will melt soon enough. We ran into some old friends at the restaurant so that was kind of fun. I've had my day of reading and knitting and relaxing that I missed last Sunday.

The picture is our grandson (#4 of 8 grand children between the two of us) in South Carolina yesterday. Wow, while I was lost in my own little world, I missed (until the evening news) the fact that it is snowing again throughout the south. They said all fifty states had snow on the ground yesterday. I guess we should be good neighbors and lend economic aid to Canada by sending truckloads of all this snow to Vancouver. My brother and sister-in-law live for six months at their home in North Carolina. They were frantic to pack up and be out of Vermont by the first of November to avoid the snow--no small task since they travel with two miniature donkeys, twelve exotic chickens, two Italian greyhounds, a Jack Russell terrier , and a bird. My brother's goal was to never shovel snow again and my sister-in-law's goal was to never see snow again. That has not worked out for them for the past two years.