The Blizzard may finally be over!

Woke up to another foot or two of snow this morning.

Great!

That being said, it looks like the storm fronts are breaking up and we’ve got some sun breaking through the clouds. It’s doubtful that the sun will help much today because the temps will remain in the upper 20s.

Seeing the sun gives one hope that warmer temps are on their way for at least 5 days. Then there’s the possibility of more snow on Sunday and Monday. Fingers crossed it’s just a dusting.

I’ve got some really great neighbors. After clearing the back decks and stairs for Jesse, I went out front and found my neighbors using their snow blowers to help clear a large portion of the driveway. I cleared the front deck and did the detail work that can’t be done with a snow blower.

My driveway is almost wide enough for me to get my car out of the garage. I’ve got to do more shovel work to widen it some more and open the driveway entrance up a bit to allow for more maneuvering to back out, or back into the garage. Right now there’s just not enough width to allow making the turn.

There are a couple of dogs who’ve been roaming around the neighborhood for the past day or two. They look healthy, have collars, but no tags to allow us to contact their owners. They’re friendly but I don’t recognize them as “Locals”. It’s likely that they simply walked over their fence on top of the snow. Jesse is also very close to figuring out that he could get over the fence if he really wanted to.

Thankfully he’s more interested in being with me, than roaming the neighborhood.

These dogs may be wondering where their people are. No-one has been able to get into town for about five days. It’s possible that the the owners of these dogs have been kept off the mountain by the storm. If these boys start looking hungry, I’ll give them some of Jesse’s food reserve so they don’t starve waiting for their “parents” to come home.

The winds are dying down so it’s not quite as nasty to be out and about.

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There’s an agreeable symmetry to this storm.

In 1992 the other half and I were planning the move into this house. It was mid March and had been warm and sunny for two weeks. The roads were clear and there was no snow to be seen. The night before the move, it snowed… A LOT! We ended up moving into this place using sleds. The local kids were more than willing to rent us their sleds for 10 bucks and the more entrepreneurial of those kids even provided the horse power to drag the sleds full of our meager household goods across the snow for us. At additional cost, of course!

It was totally worth putting cash in those kids hands.

They’re long gone now, having left to start their own families but their faces lighting up as we handed them $20s for their work was well worth it. Their Fathers and Mothers smiling about the industriousness of their children was worth it too. The neighbors also knew we were stand up folks and welcomed us. We’d fed their children while they worked and made sure they took rest breaks and were safe.

Now that the other half is gone, somehow a snowstorm seems appropriate. This is my last Winter in my little mountain town.

There’s still much to do, and the logistics of moving are daunting. But I’m convinced that leaving is probably the right thing to do. There are too many ghosts and memories here. Most of them happy, some of them sad, but the life I had is over.

It’s time to move on, hopefully a sweet couple who’s just starting out, will buy this place. It’s a good place, in a good town. Maybe whoever buys the place can make make a lifetime of cherished memories here as we did.

I’ll miss this place I’ve called home for 30 some odd years, of that, there’s no doubt. I’m sure I’ll cry the last time I drive away.

I’ll have to make time to appreciate this last spring here at this place, my home. I’ll also have to remember to take in the spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

There’s always been something magical about the light here. I’ll miss that too.

The road ahead beckons.