Monday, February 1, 2010

After the Storm

Above is a shot of Sunday's sunrise on the creek, after this weekend's snow storm. For the life of me, I don't know why I was up at sunrise on Sunday because ordinarily I'd sleep until as late as possible o'clock. But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Below is a shot of the creek during the height of the storm on Saturday, from about the same vantage point except slightly zoomed in. You can call me weird (and why shouldn't you), but I really love a good storm, especially a good snow storm.

When all that snow was coming down, and the TV people were freaking out saying, "This is The Big One, Elizabeth!" I thought it was great. In fact, I was a little disappointed to wake up Sunday to the sun. Another day of blizzard-like conditions would have guaranteed no commuting to the paying job for at least a day or two would have been just fine with me.

Sunday morning after the sun rose I ventured out to start shoveling, sweeping, and hoeing the snow so I could get down the steps without breaking my neck reach my car, which was completely covered. Yes, I said hoeing.

Snow hoeing is a little-known technique that one resorts to when one does not possess a snow shovel. It dates back to Never, because nobody in their right mind would use a hoe to shovel snow earlier times when people made do with what they had.When one's back threatens to give out after hoisting seven thousand pounds of snow with a shovel designed to transport feathers dirt and dig holes, one resorts to Plan B: the hoe.

By the way--just so you know--Plan B would work Never, it doesn't work at all unless your goal is to become exasperated if the hoe were slightly bigger and the operator's blood pressure were slightly lower.

Plan C involved extensive pondering of this question: Does an electric leaf blower work on snow? Surely it must. This plan became more and more appealing with each flake of snow that, one by one, was barely moved by the garden implement known as a hoe. Then I remembered an electrical cord, an electrical socket, and snow--which contains water--were involved.

Water, electricity and Chesapeake Bay Woman do not mix.

Neither does a gardening hoe and snow, for future reference.

22 comments:

maria from nj said...

Beautiful as it looks coming down an for the first few hours, I'm glad this one missed us. Hope your commute on Monday is uneventful.

Ann Marie said...

i should have rode the 4 wheeler up there.

Mental P Mama said...

It is beautiful, but.... I gave my son a snow blower for Christmas when he was about ten...it was the best present. Ever;)

Ann Marie said...

and might I also add.. NINE!

Meg @ Soup Is Not A Finger Food said...

We could have used our leaf blower on our snow here - it was very dry and powdery. Perfect for skiing, if we were actually people who skied.

Beautiful photos! Big storms are fun to watch.

"Big one Elizabeth": SNORT.

big hair envy said...

Snow? I do not like it, Sam I am. I do not like it on the ground, I do not like it all around. I do not like it on my car, I do not like it near or far. I do not like it on my boots, Snow and the Devil are in cahoots.

The End

Ann Marie said...

BHE bet you will like it if it was say falling just a bit while we are paruzing NYC streets!

That would be EPIC to me.

Keeper Of All Things said...

Ahhhh......I miss snow.
Guess I'll just have to make do with the beach and sand.

Daryl said...

How different is a leaf blower from a snow blower?

The blower just pushes the soft stuff aside .. you still gotta dig ... I am SO glad it was too cold here to snow but we are expecting some on Tuesday nite .. February is the snowiest month in NYC ..

Caution/Lisa said...

I absolutely love a snowstorm until the sun comes out and I have to shovel the neighbors' driveway. I might try to find snow hoe. Why not?

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

*snort* at Caution!
I did use my leaf blower to get the snow off my porch!
I wonder if I can find a snow hoe to clear our driveway....which btw we have yet to reach to the end of. Maybe today. GAH!
<><

Jamie said...

Do they even sell snow shovels in Mathews? We only had enough snow to be irritating, that is I made it to work but might not make it up the driveway at work as no one plowed, shoveled or hoed anything.

Angel Mama said...

I can see how a hoe would work for the snow - better than a RAKE like my hubby used.

No foolin...

We went to Haven and Aaron's Sunday - it was beautiful!!

Perry said...

We tried to find a snow shovel at Walmart on Friday morning and after asking three people working there, were informed "We don't have any, they're seasonal".

Sigh.

Jamie said...

Perry- apparently you should have been asking for a "snow hoe" ;)

Bayman said...

I just warmed up two partialy frozen teenagers. After watching them inhale their meal, I think soup CAN be a finger food. Incredible. A whole sleeve of crackers disapered.

Karen Deborah said...

GORGEOUS!! The photos that is.

Anonymous said...

I suspose you could always bribe someone to come dig you out. But it'd be much more fun if your next door neighbor (dad) got one of these.
http://www.popsci.com/node/30913

SMBS(Single Male Blog Stalker)

Meg McCormick said...

Bayman, I suppose soup could be a finger food, and in fact I have seen my very own children eat soup without utensils, but it's a whole lot less messy if you use a spoon.

One sleeve of saltines is a minimum around this house. We love us our saltine crackers.

WV: vatomic. "Va-tom-ic dawww-awwg, bow wow yippee yo yippee yo yippee yay..."

Country Girl said...

Ok, let me get this straight:
You hoed your snow? With a hoe?
Oh, Lord in Heaven.

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

SMBS-It's good to hear from you. You haven't stalked in a while.

Meg-Vatomic dog wins for best use of a word verification.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, sorry for not coming around more often, but you can't imagine how many blondes are out there that need stalking :).

SMBS
(Single Male Blog Stalker)