March Came In Like a Lion and He Stayed For Awhile

I have a very convoluted, sarcastic, yet lovable relationship with snow. Given where I live, that can cause issues, but we live with the choices others made for us when we were young. :) Meanwhile, I work on tolerating the cold, white stuff most of the time. Initally, that first big snowfall of the season serves to put me in the Christmas mood and I watch the big flakes fall with a smile on my face knowing that the wet, heavy snow that comes during that time of the year will cling to the trees and make the world a soft, wonderful place. A month later, however, the snow is just too cold for man or beast. I'm ready to be done with it. Waiting ever so impatiently for spring to arrive knowing I have several months yet before we'll see temps out of the 20's.

Lately, it is taking more work to tolerate the white stuff than it is worth, but then we've blown away the previous record for March snowfall by almost half a foot. Yes, it is an all-time record breaker here. And pictures from our blizzard two weeks ago will give you a hint of what we've endured. Well, I endured it. Don endured it. The kids - they had a blast. :)

The snow started to fall on Friday. It just kept coming. Inches an hour. By the end of the snowfall early Sunday morning, we had two feet of snow on the ground and the blizzard-like winds had blown it all around in some very beautiful ways. When we finally ventured in to the snowy wonderland, we couldnt' open the door. Needless to say, it took hours to dig us out. Here are just a few pictures of our weekend.

Here are some views through the windows during the storm on Friday:




On Sunday morning, we started to take stock. Here's the snow piled up against the house and Laura's climber on the back deck. I took the picture after opening the slider and praying it wouldn't fall in on me!


Here's picture of the snow that was piled up by the front door. We couldn't open it from the inside until Don made this shovel-side path.


The Leader of the Shoveling Brigade had a smile on his face for awhile. After a few hours, it was not quite as bright. Here he is at the very beginning of the day:



And all of the guys were working on the driveway together:


My front bushes didn't fair so well with the heavy snow but they look better now that it has melted some.


The winds carved beautiful snow sculptures everywhere. Here's the overhang by the garage. Pretty, isn't it?


As they dug out, the boys formed a hill by the driveway. All of that snow had to go somewhere. They figured they'd use it to their advantage!


After the hill was formed, the boys took a break to try it out while Don continued to work:




Don finally found the end of the driveway:


And even made a path to the street. I'm sure he was busy praying that the snow plows wouldn't come back and plow him in again any time soon.


The kids all had a blast on the 'hill'. Even the neighborhood boys came over to give it a try on Sunday, and then Monday after school. They'd go down with and without snowboards and sleds. Laura was especially brave for her first sledding adventure.














On Monday, they decided the pile at the end of the driveway would make a nice snow fort. Here they are building, and then playing in it. Note the school bus in the second picture. Once again they experienced yet another advantage of being schooled at home - you can play in the snow before it melts away!












In the end, the driveway and the walkway were cleared by all of the boys, and then with more help from the sun. Everyone had a great time playing in the deep snow and Don and I prayed it would be the last one of the season. Alas, we've had several snow falls since then, but they melted away much more quickly. It is March after all, isn't it? The only thing that didn't fair so well was our mailbox. We tried to keep a clear path for our wonderful mailman but somehow, I think he saw a lot of them just like ours for the next few days. I'm thankful the snow is almost over for the year. I'm very ready for Spring. Think Spring with me, will you? Thing harder! Really hard!