Eboni: A Winter Storm

December 27

‘Twas the night after Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, because . . . THEY KNEW A GIGANDO STORM WAS COMING!!

[Yes, Virginia, it snowed today!  This is my 71st winter, and there’s still nothing quite as exciting as a big snow storm. You can just stay inside all day and look at it!]

[The National Weather Service, that wondrous Government tax-sponsored agency employing hundreds of public servants of multiple postgraduate scientific backgrounds, was spot on with their forecast . . . ]

[That winter storm, Eboni, was going to bring significant snowfall over a two-day period . . . ]

[Douglas County is getting national attention. The Weather Channel is in town to monitor our snowfall (Douglas County Emergency Management).  The Super rushed out at 5:00 a.m. to tell me Alex was on national TV . . . ]

[Well now everything did look Christmasy!]

[Not sittin’ on the dock of the bay . . . ]

[You will recall from the previous posting, that this shot taken on Christmas Day was severely lacking of any snow cover . . . ]

[Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow . . . ]

[It was forecasted to be 12″ at upper range of the spread . . . ]

[Pretty much right on on our patio.  But it was still snowing with another day to go.  Alex officially reported 14.5″ for the entire storm . . . ]

[Our snow guy raised quite a cloud clearing our driveway.  He would be back to do it again the next day . . . ]

[Not your garden variety snow blower . . . ]

[Whom amongst us doesn’t love shoveling snow?  There are no mosquitoes, no flies, you don’t get dirty, you’re not baking in the hot sun, and you’re not sweating. My goodness, you can do it all day long! Even when you’re old! What’s not to like?]

[I donned my winter shoveling attire and attacked the patio snow . . . ]

[Kinda like swimming or riding a bike . . . ]

[Balance, form, and endurance . . . ]

[Am I on “Candid Camera”?]

[This is the one-handed shovel lean . . . ]

[Socks?  I don’t need no stinkin’ socks!]

[This should about do it . . . ]

[And now you can eat off this patio . . . ]

December 28

[As daylight breaks we see what Mother Nature has wrought. Not to worry though – we still have plenty of wine. The Super will soon venture out to free our dryer vent from snow – there is an aura of anticipation in the air. Looking forward, the projected low temperatures for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are 18 and 17 degrees below zero, respectively. We plan on having wine . . . ]

[And this morning we have snow drifts that swallowed a Buick!]

[We are now free to wander about the countryside . . . ]

[Dang (well, I didn’t say “dang”), I just shoveled this yesterday!]

[And it looks like more!]

[Wow!]

[I haven’t seen this much snow since the last time we got this much snow . . . ]

[This little beauty greeted us at our front door . . . ]

[Julie Shaughnessy wants more snow pictures! These after day 2 of Winter Storm Eboni, i.e., yesterday morning. The Super wanted a shot with the shovel – a lot colder and more snow than the morning before. At the end you see she’s made it to the dryer vent and cleared the snow blockage . . . ]

[The temperature was below zero . . . ]

[She shoveled a path along the edge of the house . . . ]

[Well, I shoveled a foot off the patio yesterday; the Super faced even more on this day – it was over her knees! Therefore, by my Minnesota snow math, we had 400 inches!]

[But she made it to the dryer vent so we could wash clothes . . . ]

December 29

[Freed from the bondage of snow, we were free partake of normal routines . . . ]

[Josie was at the winery . . . ]

[A bottle of Marquette . . . ]

[And we were good to go . . . ]

[The Super went to get her “Missing U at . . . ” photo.  Josie on one side, her mom, Linda, on the other . . . ]

[The Super’s two posted photos . . . ]

[Josie’s home for the holidays . . . ]

[She’s a pre-med in her sophomore year at Concordia (Moorhead) . . . ]

[She doesn’t get to play much at school and was bemoaning the loss of her guitar calluses . . . ]

[But as I noted before (i.e., me and shoveling), she picked it right up without missing a beat . . . ]

[We called it a day at dusk . . . ]

[The winery was in fine holiday motif . . . ]

December 30

[This morning I cleared the patio of the second day snow . . . ]

[Yup, from a foot to two feet deep!  Happy New Year!!  Another 3 – 7 inches are soon on the way.]

I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime.  ~  Will Rogers

Up Next:  Geez, I better get back to Spain . . .