We could have gone in two different directions yesterday. A birthday party for a great-grandson 65 miles south of us. Or to another appointment 35 miles north of us. Both meant driving on Interstate-29. The weather report seemed a bit iffy so we decided to stay home and go to neither. It wasn't snowing all that hard. In fact the forecast only mentioned a bit of snow and some "windy conditions". They were right about the wind...it kicked up,gusting to 44 mph, and it was fierce. And cold. Drifting was inevitable. Here in town it wasn't so bad but out on the highway it created white-out conditions.
After multiple accidents they closed the Interstate, beginning north of us and eventually closing a stretch some sixty miles long. Travelers were stranded overnight at local schools. You can read about it here.
We had friends who headed to the City earlier in the day...they spent 2 hours trying to get off the Interstate onto a two-lane highway where the Highway Patrol was re-routing traffic. They made it home safe. Other friends were traveling home from Des Moines.
This winter has brought us an accumulated 57 inches of snow to date. The Sioux City Journal actually reports 57.8, but who's keeping such close tabs as all that. What's another .8 inch?
When I look out the window, up and down the street, it appears that everyone else is doing as we. We've given up on keeping the sidewalks scooped trim. The front steps are piled with snow and visitors come in through the garage door. We are glad we can still get our car out of the garage.
Seeing this much snow on the ground with deep drifts and more blowing wind, I think of those pioneer families and homesteaders, hunkering down in tiny sod houses or not-much-larger log cabins. Or the Native Americans, surviving in their homes constructed of buffalo hide. Winter must have been times of awful fear. At least they didn't have to get up each morning and drive 30 miles to work as some of our friends do.
As I type, Hubby reports to me that another big storm is on its way.
The Olympics should come on down to the States. We've got the snow.
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6 comments:
Yes, we're expecting more snow in PA, too. The kids haven't been in school since last Tuesday, which was one week ago, and 6 more inches are predicted by tomorrow morning. My brother-in-law lives in Dallas and they had 13 inches recently, and no snow shovels were even available at their local WalMart stores!
Don't know HOW our poor ancestors made it through!
ANOTHER STORM!!! Criminentlies woman. We are expecting 7 more inches from your weekend storm (it will begin here in another hour or so). You're telling me there's another storm on the heels of that one? Honestly, honestly, HONESTLY! Quit sending us snow!
My mom was from Maine and lived there until the dawn of WWII, when work took her elsewhere. She would tell the stories of walking uphill (both ways it would seem) to school in the snow - learning to type with frozen fingers. There was no warm nostalgia in her voice. She never went back. She'd had enough of that! And so, all her offspring find themselves in California...
Hi There,
I got behind on reading blogs and wanted to stop by and say hello. I'm getting caught up on all the posts. Keeping you in prayer!!
Blessings, Roxanne
I live about 2 hours south of Vancover, BC. This entire region had the warmest January on record, resulting in little snow in the mountains. The cherry trees are in bloom, and I saw my first daffodils today. CRAZY!!! I feel so bad for Vancouver. They have spent so much money hauling and grooming snow... only to lose it to the rain. And then, you poor souls in the rest of the country... you have had a terrible winter!
You convey the feelings of so many this winter! Loved reading the details and I have to say that 57 inches is a LOT of snow! In Michigan we had a lot of snow last year and have been spared some of the major snowfalls this season. Have had one or two bigger snows, and more coming today, so they say. I live for spring. And I admire and respect our forebears who managed to forge some living in this climate years ago!
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