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| Chez Tuttle et Nuke, Monday 02 Feb 26 OAFS Photo |
Maybe.
We departed Maryland on Monday morning at approximately 0833 local. Weather was CAVU and bloody cold, roughly 15 (sit down you Northern tier types, we don't want to hear how farking cold it is up there, we're glad it's up there, and not down here). Vehicle was fully fueled and all that was required was a coffee and ration stop (Dunkin').
Once that was done, we set a course for Little Rhody via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (not to be confused with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which is much further south). We wanted to avoid Baltimore's rush hour (we did) and the Eastern Shore side of Maryland is pretty, much prettier than the environs of Baltimore. It's very rural, lots of farms and open fields.
As you can see in the opening photo, Annapolis has snow, rather a lot. Thing is though, it's about four inches of packed snow, almost a solid, topped by three to five inches of ice. The stuff is impenetrable, except by anti-tank ammo. Seriously, the stuff is solid and hard as a rock.
The further north we traveled the fluffier the snow got. The quantity varied from perhaps six inches in some areas to one to two feet in Little Rhody. Seriously, we got pounded last weekend. But it was nice light snow, easy to shovel.
How do I know you might ask?
Well, our next door neighbors cleared the driveway for us, which was awesome pulling up to a nice clean driveway after driving 425 miles. As we prepared for extra-vehicular activity, i.e. unloading the car and moving stuff into the house, I noted that the path to the deck and the deck itself were still piled high with virgin snow. Maybe a foot? Maybe less? But there it was.
Fortunately I keep a shovel handy at the back of the deck and within minutes a path was cleared.
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| OAFS Photo |
Unless it melts.
Fat chance of that happening, seems the polar vortex is planning an extended stay for the month of February.
So it's winter, real winter, like when I was nobbut a lad.
But back then Dad did the shoveling, now I am the Dad.
Bummer.
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| OAFS Photo |
Gotta admit though, the stuff is pretty when viewed in the right light.
From a distance.
Watching someone else shovel.
Sigh ...
The stuff is pretty when viewed on a monitor in SE GA where it is 27 at 6 am. We see freezing temps for only a couple of days every year. I live in the south for a reason. I can stand heat better than cold. Too many years in SWA or near the equator.
ReplyDeleteI'm the opposite, can't handle too much heat.
DeleteGood to hear your commute was without incident Sarge, plenty of time today to tackle that goodly amount that arrived while you were gone. Don't forget to use that canola oil spray on the snow shovels.......:)
ReplyDeleteHeh.
Delete"Gotta admit though, the stuff is pretty when viewed in the right light."
ReplyDeleteFrom behind a window, with a fortified coffee in one hand and a delightful pastry in the other.
Thanks for the AAR, Sarge. Glad you made it safely and without incident.
I'm in fav or of delightful pastries, even when it isn't snowing.
DeleteSarge,
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it home safely. Also extremely glad that storm didn't make it down here intact. Any pictures of it would certainly not be as pretty. Nor the drive as safe.
juvat
Friend of mine was in Florida, one day she was in the pool, next day she was sending pictures of ice-coated palm fronds!
Deletecan't ski on asphalt, OTOH can't make snowballs in Grand Forks in the winter
ReplyDeleteBoth are good points.
DeleteGood trip! Good neighbor. Just the right kind of snow for shoveling--- as much as necessary, but no more than that. Enjoy being home again and get on with stuff you want to do there, and report back tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very attractive snowfall. Enough to be impressive and scenic, but not the nasty stuff with hidden (or even visible) ice to hurt you badly.
Sunny and highs in 50s in the mountain west. Praying we get several good snows in coming weeks so we can water lawns and drink H2O next summer.
JB
Snow in the mountains is something the flatlanders don't understand. Gotta have that substantial snow pack so you'll have liquid water in the summer months!
DeleteSnowing again here in Michigan timed right for the morning commute, and it is still coming down, albeit now rather lightly, to be followed by a nice temperature drop to fully enjoy the experience. Where da hack did my global warming go?
ReplyDeleteReply
Visited Michigan some years back, it was January. Asked my daughter's father-in-law, "Where's all the snow?"
DeleteNext day it started snowing, didn't stop until we flew out.
He just looked at me, "Happy now?"
Well yes, yes I was.
Michigan is supposed to be like that, right?
Welcome Home Sarge! I guess your 'hood is like mine and the young men and older boys don't come by to offer to shovel everything for a $10 or $20. I was feeling right at home when the delightful high school officers came by and offered to rake my leaves my first year here and they looked so cute I paid them to rake my neighbor lawn. I never have had anyone come by an offer to shovel which is just wrong. I live across the street from an elementary, middle and high school dammit!
ReplyDeleteEveryone wants a white collar job, ya know, the kind of job where you sit at a desk all day and do, essentially, nothing.
DeleteVERY kind of your neighbors eh? Is that a common courtesy in the NE or does he have a nifty snow blower he likes to use?
ReplyDeleteNot common, we lucked out in having some great neighbors. She's a pearl of great price!
DeleteA side effect of the cold weather in the US is that the jet stream is dumping a lot of rain on the Iberian Peninsula. There's a weather warning for Spain showing high winds in the Straits of Gibraltar and over 8" of rain in some places. According to our weather people the jet stream has buckled moving south. I suppose it makes up for last years drought and the 45C temperatures they had. Sicily and Italy has had some damaging wind and rain. All good fun but roll on spring.
ReplyDeleteRetired
Eight inches of rain? Dear Lord, that's a lot of rain.
DeleteI've just seen pictures from Andalusia, it's intense.
ReplyDeleteRetired
I looked up "rain in Andalusia," so many videos came up, but the one that really struck me was snow in Madrid. In Madrid? That's not the Spain I've always visualized. I see Portugal was hit hard as well, six dead, new wind speed records in that country.
DeletePrayers up for those affected.