Let It Snow?

Well, we made it. The trip home was mostly clear, and very beautiful, until we got off the interstate and headed up Hwy 60 at Worthington. Still beautiful, but the roads got steadily worse. And when we got onto the county road, it got interesting. Drivable, but snow packed in some places and ice in others. As we headed north, the snow got deeper and deeper. When we hit Storden, MN, we got a little nervous. If they had that much, how deep was ours going to be?

Frosted pine trees in Rapid City.


Frosted prairies in South Dakota.


Interstate windbreak in Minnesota.


County road at Heron Lake, MN.


Storden, MN snow.
Well, as hoped, Charlie, our road maintenance man had taken his BIG Pay Loader and cleaned out our driveway and the yard area. But unfortunately, he had done that on Sunday, and by Monday afternoon, it had drifted shut. We could not get in the driveway. Days like this are the reason most people raised in the north carry “survival” gear. And along with our insulated coveralls, packs, hats, scarves and heavy gloves; this year we had new snowshoes and poles in the car, courtesy of Cabalas and a used sporting store in Rapid City. So Hubby geared up and headed down the driveway on his snowshoes to check the house. The yard and the driveway by the house were fine, but 2/3 of the driveway was impassible for our car. Hubby shoed back up the hill and we headed to Sister Connie’s for the night. Happy puppies and warm soup awaited us.
The Big Pay Loader.
Then yesterday morning with -2 degrees temperature and a heavy south wind, we came back to the house and both of us shoed in. It was not as fun as normal snowshoeing, because of the extreme cold. But we made with only some very cold fingers. Hubby started blowing snow to open the cat house and look for 2 missing cats (I will talk about that tomorrow), Charlie’s son came and redid the drive, and Hubby walked back up the drive to get the car. We got the car unloaded and headed back to Connie’s to get the dogs. Then went to Storden for the mail, Westbrook for milk, back to Connie’s for items forgotten, then got home and snuggled into a warm house. By the time all that was done, Hubby was too tired to finish blowing snow. So today he plans to blow a path to the barn to get out the tractor and front end loader. Then he can clean some more paths so we can get around to different buildings and the animals can get around the yard better.

Usually, if we are home when it snows, Hubby can get a jump start on cleaning off the drive and the yard. However, with this much snow, I don’t think he could have kept up with it. We can’t get an accurate depth reading, but we have somewhere between 25-30 inches, depending on where you measure.

We had a wonderful time in Rapid with the folks for Christmas, but we are glad to be back home, and thankful we made it safely. Now we just have to worry about Daughter Brook, who is driving home today….AND IT IS SNOWING AGAIN.

The beauty of winter skies…one of the many reasons we live here.