Snow

A Chesapeake Bay Son-Daughter Collaborative Masterpiece

Thursday morning we received a dusting of snow, but Friday afternoon we got what I would consider our first major snowfall of the season.

Unfortunately, it didn't last.

However, it lingered long enough for Son and Daughter to fasten a sled to the Gator and go zigzagging at high speeds all over the yard-- giving a nervous mother all the makings of a breakdown.

Nobody was hurt, unless you count my few frazzled nerves.

The tire tracks in the snow above (in my front yard) were from the Gator/sled event.

The snow began Friday at about 3:00.  I was working in Williamsburg, and as soon as I saw how quickly it was sticking to the roads, I left.

The Colonial Parkway was already covered by the time I made it there.

Route 17 traffic moved very slowly.

A skim of ice on Millers Cove

I passed several accidents and almost became a participant in one myself.  Coming down the hill just before Hodges and Bryant in Gloucester Court House, I tried to slow down, but my brakes locked up on me. I took my foot off, but the brake lights on the truck in front of me kept getting closer and closer.

Fortunately there was nobody in the next lane, and I was able to maneuver over there to avoid a disaster.

Route 14, the next to the last leg of my journey, was The Worst. Nobody was going over 15 miles per hour except, perhaps, for the man standing beside his overturned jeep on the edge of the woods. He didn't appear to be injured, but the Jeep didn't look so hot. He had to have been going fairly fast to make it as far off the road as he did.

My hour-long commute was almost two and a half hours that day. But I made it home safely, and my car wasn't turned upside down on the side of the road.

So there's that.

More slush around the dock.

Our cove off of Queens Creek, which back in the 1970s would freeze so solid my sisters and I could walk clear across it, has sported a thin film of slush for the past several days.

I don't think we'll ever see it freeze like that again.

These got a good workout this weekend.
I even wore them in Food Lion once.  

Although we didn't receive as much snow as I would have liked, we did have one day of a two hour commute and a near accident a good coating of snow, enough to build a silly snowman and slide around on a sled.

And enough to make it perfectly acceptable for me to wear zebra boots into the grocery store.

(Not that I needed an excuse.)

Zebra Boots

It's been raining since December every single day this week, and they're calling for snow tonight.


So I thought I'd put up these last few pictures of the sunny day at Bethel Beach when Waterman JP and I trudged through swamp the marsh and water to get to the old barn that hides back there.

Speaking of trudging through swamp the marsh, I finally retrieved the zebra print boots from my car.  Since it was raining and has been since December I needed them to take my dog for his walks through the flooded yard.

So here they are.

Zebra boots and my leopard print hat.
(Note, I've not worn them together yet 
but intend to if we get snow.)
Baby Sis painted the picture on the wall.

Middle Sis painted the three pictures behind the boots.

Personally, I am hoping we get tons of snow.  However, they say whatever we do get will melt by tomorrow.

Rain, snow, sleet, whatever.  My zebra boots and I are ready.

Bring it.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Hay Rake

Aside from yesterday's barn, another treasure hides in the swamp

marsh near Bethel Beach.

This.

If you weren't looking for it, you'd easily miss it.

It blends in perfectly with the surroundings.

And yes, I was still wearing the zebra print boots while taking these, even though we were out of the standing water.

I'll try to get some shots of the boots tomorrow or Friday.  I'm just returning from a road trip for work, and as I type this the boots are still in the back of the car....

Speaking of those boots, click here for a most amusing post by Deltaville Jamie that includes several hilarious illustrations.

Last but not least, and entirely unrelated to zebra print boots, check out my mother's humorous sketches on  her latest post here.

The Barn

When my friend Waterman JP texted me to say he wanted to show me some new and unusual places that required boots to get to, I knew then and there that there was potential for danger adventure.

So I donned my zebra print boots purchased on clearance they couldn't give the things away from Fashion Bug in Gloucester and happily drove to meet him at the designated spot.

I would show a picture of the zebra print boots except they're still in the car. By the way, so are the beach chairs I took on vacation last July.  I just haven't gotten around to moving them yet.  I have my priorities.  How much do you want to bet those zebra print boots stay in the back of the car until the year 2045 my next summer vacation? (Of course the beach chairs will stay there until then. It only makes sense.)

Anyway.

JP drove me to Bethel Beach, which of course I've visited millions of times.  He pulled over at a spot I was familiar with because there's an old shed back there that I check on now and then.

Just to make sure it's OK.

But where he was taking me was further back off the road.

And required boots to get to.

Zebra print boots were not necessary, any color will do, but they certainly make trouncing through a swamp the marsh even more fun. And stylish, because Chesapeake Bay Woman is nothing if not a slave to fashion.

(Pardon CBW --who has not purchased new clothes for herself in years--as she howls with laughter at the thought of being a slave to fashion.)

ANYWAY...

We waded stomped through calf-high water for miles and miles a bit until we arrived at a rice paddy this beautiful barn, hiding behind some heavy brush.

A barn in the middle of a swamp marsh.

It's important for me to mention that JP belongs to a hunt club which rents this land, therefore to the best of my knowledge we were not trespassing.

One in our midst is, however, guilty of wearing zebra print rubber boots that are still in the back of her car.

Stay tuned for a few more photos from this excursion.

No zebras were harmed in the making of my boots this blog post.