An Odd Christmas

Such heavy, wet snow. It was so tough to work through with the snow blower, and when Kris plowed he was barely able to move some of it. The driveway is now a narrow path, and just outside the front of the house and perpendicular to it is a 6-foot wall of dirty snow, which will, in no time, turn essentially to concrete.

The trouble with these huge, early-season snows, of course, is January, February, and March. I find myself concerned about what is to come when these walls of ice stand firm for three months and I am unable to adequately move the next big one because there is no place for it to go. I will spend tomorrow, if at all possible, moving what I can with the snow blower, but that first requires replacing the sheer pins that disintegrated when I came a bit too close to that loose bit of fence out by the chicken coop this afternoon. I know I have a set of pins somewhere, but have no idea where they are, since they came with the machine when I bought it two years ago and I have not needed them to this point. If I can't get out of here tomorrow and to town to get more, my trip to Kentucky may be delayed yet again. I've looked already in a couple of possible places for those pins, but no luck yet.

All in all though, an odd but good sort of Christmas. Jon and Kelly somehow made it down from Virginia and are here for the night. The 1-hour drive took them 2.5. Then, after Kris made it to plow, Bryan was able to drive the Jeronimous's Tahoe over to get us all for prime rib dinner at their house across the lake. It will definitely be a holiday to remember for years to come.

And I sound as though I am complaining about this snow, but I am not. It is beautiful, and one of the joys of living here in this region.