It snowed yesterday. It snowed last night. It’s snowing again this morning. We currently have 6 or 7 inches of snow on the ground. For New Hampshire, that’s nothing; for Tennessee that’s crippling. The entire region has declared a snow day. Schools closed yesterday. Government offices are closed. Most businesses are closed, those that are open are running on skeleton crews. The road crews are pleading with folks to stay home: stay off the roads so they can get them cleared. Stuck vehicles just slow them down. We’ll just hunker in and make the most of it. The dogs will enjoy this special play day with both of us here.
Snow Day Begins
Once it got light, Blondie and I went to let the foster dogs out of their crates, stretch their legs and get breakfast.
We returned home for our breakfast. After breakfast Blondie and Cochise went out front to play in the snow. Blondie had been out a couple of times already today: she likes the snow. Cochise was not thrilled with it and tended to stay in the areas Blondie had already tromped down. Blondie, on the other hand, bounded and leapt around like a crazy dog. Unfortunately my camera was on the charger.
Once they’d both had enough snow play, and taken care of their business, they came bounding up the steps, shook off the snow and asked to be let back inside. Marie had bribed Cochise into going outside with the promise of a fire, he expected her to make good on that. While she got that going, Cochise needed some extra warming to knock off the chill.
With the fire stoked up, they both settled in for a quick snooze.
Our entire region is closed for a snow day today. We have a 4-wheel drive truck. Marie was raised in St. Louis Missouri: she knows how to drive in snow. I put 200 pounds of logs in the back of the truck last night to increase traction. Normally she goes to work even when the rest of the office stays home. Her office called to say they were closed today — and she had BETTER stay home this time. So Marie made a big pan of snow ice cream and took a nap. We will go to let the foster dogs out to play and relieve themselves several more times, but other than that we’ll just hunker in, keep the fire burning, and make the most of it.
Snow Day Update
It turns out that Marie remembered something that had to be done today and she needed to go into town to do it. So mid-afternoon I cleared off the truck, warmed it up, loaded the dogs and we all went for a snow run. Blondie tried to claim “shotgun” but we convinced her that Marie needed to sit there. It was not easy; have you ever tried telling a 90 pound pit bull that she cannot sit where she definitely wants to sit?
Piney Mountain Road was a mess, but the temperature was up to 35° by then and the mess was mostly sloppy not frozen. A different kind of slick from a sheet of ice. That will be tomorrow after this snow melt refreezes over night. Sweetwater Road was better. Route 73 and the interstate were fine. Roads in town were good. Obviously the road crews had done their jobs.
We accomplished the required chore and one other, then headed home. All went well until it was time to scale our driveway. We stopped for the mail and I kicked it into 4-wheel-low and dropped to first gear. We got almost all the way up before the wheels started taking turns spinning as they searched out grip. We did get up, but the last part as done almost sideways and I chewed up the driveway. I’ll rake the gravel smooth again when the snow melts. All in all, a successful trip, and a very pleasant day. We’ll cap it off with dinner at Mom’s house. Since she’s only about 80 feet away from our house, we’ll just walk. Blondie, however will not be joining us.
