Sunday, January 07, 2007

A sea of white

Snowstorm number three arrived like clockwork at the end of the week, but this time with only seven inches of snow. Add that to the two previous storms in the last couple of weeks and you get the scene above. Not much curbside parking going on in this town! That's my next-door neighbor's work vehicle. He was off last week but needs to go to work on Monday so a bunch of us painstakingly helped him dig a path just wide enough for him to pull out of those snowbanks. I don't think we're going to see the street again till March!
These are my across-the-street neighbors. We didn't have a block party this summer but have made up for it by having a lot of snow-shoveling gatherings. It looks like this all over town, and has made for some interesting rituals. Like don't turn down your street until you make sure no one is coming from the other direction, there's no room for two-way traffic. Be sure to make a sharp right-angle turn into your driveway or you'll end up in a snow bank. At the supermarket, we leave our full grocery carts outside the door and go retrieve our cars and load the bags curbside. The parking lots are full of snowy ruts and icy chunks that aren't user-friendly for grocery carts.

I did start taking my Christmas decorations down. The one above will be staying out for awhile. That's one of a set of three little Christmas trees in big green pots that line my sidewalk. I put large red bows on them, and this one is just visible. Inside, it's pretty chaotic too. I never seem to be able to make a clean sweep of putting away the Christmas things. Some things are back down in the basement, a lot of it is spread across the dining room table, and there are fake evergreen needles all across the living room carpet. Not sure why a fake tree sheds almost as much as the real thing. Today I decided I needed a few more of those big plastic storage containers to help me get a handle on organizing all the holiday decor. By the time I navigated the WalMart parking lot and made my way home, I was out of the notion. But there's always tomorrow, and the promise of more snow at the end of the week should keep me inside finishing up on my sea of Christmas clutter!

11 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Your pictures remind me of how much ENERGY you can use up living in the winter when it snows. No wonder once you went to Walmart and came back, you lost your zip!

Just rain here...

Mary said...

Bloggers around the country are anxiously waiting for snow. I never tire of looking at your *winter white* photos! I sure hope you'll be able to see grass by March!

Annie in Austin said...

Hello LostRoses,

I still miss snow, and used to enjoy snow shoveling. As time goes on, the idea of 'visiting' snow- rather than living with it- sounds more and more appealing, but in your photos it is so, so beautiful!

My floor also had a dusting of artificial needles to be swept up, and I'm also trying to reorganize the storage containers.

Thank you for the comment on my garden blog - reading your kind words was a good start for a Monday morning.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Clare and Mike said...

Oh wow! I think we can only dream about seeing snow like that, here in Central England - all we seem to get these days is wet and windy weather!

Diana LaMarre said...

Wow, you have certainly got more than your share of storms this year. It's just crazy how the only snow is falling in your area! Not that I am complaining. I'd be happy to have a snowless winter (which it still is!).

I thought my fake tree was the only one that shed it's needles so much. At least they are easy to vacuum up.

Boy, I hate trying to maneuver a shopping cart in the snow!

Anita said...

OMG, I have never seen so much snow! Up to this side of the world (Germany) it's still pretty warmish - I almost think that we might skip the winter this year!

LostRoses said...

Carol, for as much work as shoveling can be, I should be burning enough calories to make up for eating all those Xmas goodies! Doesn't look like it so far though.

Mary, thanks for your kind words. With all the snow pictures I'm beginning to feel like a broken record. I don't know about seeing grass here before March but I know I'll be seeing palm trees in February when we head south of the border for a couple of weeks!

Annie, you're right about enjoying the snow shoveling(at times!). There's a certain satisfaction in it, not unlike mowing the yard. The scope of all the snow is just so amazing to see.

I still haven't swept up the needles. After I got sidetracked Sunday I decided I might as well wait till next weekend, a three-day one! And maybe I'll think of something more inspiring to write about, as you did!

Clare, I bet all the rain has a lot to do with your lovely gardening results later in the year! Though the wind can't be good. We had 60 mph gusts the other night. I could hear it howling around the eaves all night long and I think every last pod on my Honey Locust tree are now decorating the snow drifts in the back yard!

Zoey, I hope we eventually send a weather front your way that doesn't already have all the snow wrung out of it! You've got new boots for it, remember?

Anita, I hope you don't skip winter! But it's sure a strange year for weather all over the northern hemisphere it seems. Imagine being pretty warm in Germany at this time of year! Spring may be anticlimactic for you!

Leann said...

please send us some of that beauty.we have ugly drity brown grass.we had a brown christmas.and we still only have a very small chance of snow this week.your pictures a sooooo pretty.love your dolls.but you most likely are getting sick of snow.some places have been just dumped on.God bless you and take care.

Anonymous said...

Wow that's a lot of snow! I love the stuff, but we don't get much of it here in the UK.

MariaJ said...

It looks so so clean and white while we havent it at all. I love winter when its short. Usually we have snow approximately 6 months but this season is SO different.

LostRoses said...

Leann, Nikki, and Maria, Yes, it's almost too much of a good thing! I heard someone on the radio say yesterday, "If you're leaving town, take some snow with you!" At least the snow that's fallen in the last two days if fluffy - easier shoveling!