January 27, 2014

• Relentless

  The cold temperatures, the snow, the wind... this has been the most relentless winter I can remember since we moved here 22 years ago. Maybe in my entire life, although our winter in Idaho Falls in 1983-84 was pretty bad. I don't remember all the issues with wind and drifting snow in Idaho, but that could be because it was 30 years ago and the memory is getting fuzzy.

  I was supposed to be at the Red Cross office today for my weekly volunteer stint, manning the reception desk and doing data entry. I missed one Monday this month because the office was closed for MLK Day. I missed another Monday because of the weather. Today I called in to talk to one of my supervisors and we decided I shouldn't try to come in. Shortly after that decision, I saw that the sheriff had declared a county-wide road emergency and the county road commission had hired construction companies to try get some roads open with front end loaders where the snowplows were unable to get through the snowdrifts. Shortly after reading that, my husband called from the nuclear plant to tell me that all non-essential workers were being sent home early and had been told not to come in tomorrow. He was told that the county had given up on keeping the roads open. My guess is that the roads they get open are just drifting shut again right behind the plows and front end loaders. If you've never lived near a Great Lake, you may not fully appreciate the unrelenting, howling wind that the lakes sometimes produce. I am amazed that we haven't lost power yet this winter. Gee, I hope I didn't just jinx us.

  An indication of how brutal this winter has been so far: Our local schools, which had maybe a half-dozen snow days total in all the years joyouswind was attending elementary school, middle school and high school, closed today for the sixth time this month, and they've already announced they will be closed again tomorrow. Not because of the amount of snow which our county equipment can usually handle, but because of the heavy wind causing massive drifting on area roads and dangerous wind chills for children waiting at bus stops.

  So, I'm sitting here monitoring the county sheriff, county road commission, and nuclear plant's Facebook pages, waiting for Bookmark61 to make it safely home, and feeling very grateful that I braved the whiteout on Saturday and made it to the grocery store. And you have no idea how grateful Brett and I both are that he bought that huge 4WD truck a few months ago when it felt like summer was going to last forever.

  I'll let you in on a little secret. Living in a tiny village is better in these conditions than living in one of the bigger towns up the road. A couple of snow plows can keep village streets passable, guys with plows on the front of their pickup trucks keep parking lots cleaned up, and good neighbors with snow blowers keep the residential driveways cleared. I'm not sure what we would have done this month without Donnie across the street and Paul next door keeping our driveway open for us. I owe both of them some major cookies when this is all over. If it ever ends.

  Brett just made it home safe and sound. He's putting the electric battery warmer in his truck and tucking it in for the night. I hope you are all staying safe and warm and counting your blessings if you are not affected by this weather.

   

   

  • 2:45 pm
  • 3 Comments