Let It Snow

Let It Snow (Christmas song)

Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Man, it doesn’t show signs of stopping
And I’ve brought me some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let it snow, let it snow…

As the meteorologists have predicted, we are getting snow. Lots of snow. Unending snow. It began on Thanksgiving evening and hasn’t stopped. We are getting lake effect snow, then a snowstorm, then a snowstorm enhanced by lake effect snow. What’s the difference between a snowstorm and lake effect snow? I’m glad you asked. The summary at the top of my Internet search page explains:

A snowstorm and lake effect snow are two different types of winter weather phenomena. While both can bring significant snowfall, they have distinct characteristics:

• Snowstorm: A snowstorm is a large-scale winter storm that can affect a wide area, often bringing heavy snowfall, strong winds, and low visibility. Snowstorms can be caused by various weather systems, such as low-pressure systems, fronts, or nor’easters. They can impact multiple states or regions and are often associated with significant disruptions to daily life.
• Lake Effect Snow: Lake effect snow, on the other hand, is a localized weather phenomenon that occurs when cold air passes over a large body of warmer water, such as a lake. This interaction causes the air to rise, cool, and condense, resulting in heavy snowfall in a narrow band downwind of the lake. Lake effect snow is typically confined to a smaller area, often affecting only a few counties or towns.

In our area, we get a lot of lake effect snow from the Great Lakes. When we first moved to Northern Michigan 9 1/2 years ago, we got a lot of snow, but there were gaps between snow “events” so we had time to shovel out before another one hit. The last few years have been quite mild, with not a lot of major snow events. We figured that sooner or later we’d get a snowy winter again so we aren’t surprised. This is probably the snowiest winter we’ve had because the snow has been dumping on us for several days without pause.

EJ has had Thursday through Sunday off. We had no place to go, so we have enjoyed watching the snow fall, and fall, and fall. The snow-covered landscape is very beautiful. The problem is that the snow is still falling and EJ had to go to work today.

Several years ago, our neighbor, Dale, saw me using our walk-behind snowblower to clear our driveway while EJ was at work and he had pity for me. Every winter since then Dale has kept our driveway cleared with his tractor with a snowblower attached to it. I’m quite sure he snowblows the driveways of other neighbors as well. He’s retired and I think enjoys doing it. It takes me more than two hours to snowblow our driveway but Dale can zip up and down a couple times with his tractor and it’s done. He doesn’t accept payment; we are more than grateful for his gift. This year, however, EJ thinks that Dale and his wife might have gone to New England to spend Thanksgiving with his family. So this morning EJ got out our little snowblower, which we haven’t used in probably more than five years. It’s not surprising that he had trouble getting it started. He worked on it and ALMOST got it started, but then he had to stop to get ready for work.

He left for work early to give himself time in case he got stuck. I stood outside watching him dashing through the deep snow in his truck. When he rounded the curve at the bottom of the driveway, I sighed with relief–but my relief was premature. I got a message “ALMOST made it.” EJ got stuck in the deep snow that the county snowplows pushed up when it plowed past. Sigh. I grabbed a shovel and walked down the driveway joining EJ in shoveling snow to free our truck. I got so hot and sweaty that I took off my coat and hat. I put my orange hat, which I wear during hunting season so I’m not mistaken for a deer, back on when EJ asked me but I kept my coat off. Finally, some nice guys with a plow on their truck stopped to help us. They plowed the pile of snow away from the end of the driveway and then they pulled EJ’s truck out. He made it to work ok, although he ran into very heavy snow squalls on the way.

Now we just have to worry about EJ making it home from work. He has decisions to make: Does he try to make it up to the house? What if the county snowplows push more snow at the end of the driveway and he gets stuck? Should he park at the bottom of the driveway (assuming he makes it into the driveway) and walk up in possibly heavy snow? Or should he get a motel in the city where he works? He favors making it home. I’m hoping that if the snow is too bad he will get a motel. Regardless, I’ve set my phone alarm for 3 a.m. so I can pray for him on his drive home and watch to make sure he makes it to the house.

I’m not sure how much snow we’ve gotten. I made a snow measuring thingy to measure. It’s simply a long think piece of lumber about 1×1 inch and a little over four feet high. I marked every foot so I can measure the snow. Only snow tends to pack down a bit as more snow falls on top of it so I don’t think it’s a very accurate measure. According to my measuring stick, we’ve only gotten maybe 14 inches of snow and I’m sure we’ve gotten way more than that. A more accurate measure is probably how much snow has fallen on EJ’s truck. Yesterday EJ measure the snow on his truck before he cleared it off. It was about a foot. This morning, there was about the same amount of snow on the truck. That’s approximately 2 feet. He cleared it off and a couple hours later there was at least three inches more. There’s another Winter Storm Warning out with additional inches of snow predicted. EJ checked the weather on his computer before he left for work and it shows strong wind coming our way as well as snow. Blowing snow will cause whiteouts that make it hazardous to drive. Also, it will blow the snow into deep drifts. It will make traveling to and from work even more challenging.

Even though I’ve opened their little door, the chickens have not gone outside their coop since the snow began to fall last Thursday. Theo the cat has stayed in the garage as well. Hannah Joy goes out to do her “business” and then rushes back into the house. They aren’t stupid.

Other than those challenges, the falling snow and snowy landscape is beautiful. Also, my trail cam has taken some very interesting footage. For example, yesterday night a possum was in the apple orchard when two deer (a doe and her young one) entered. The deer kept stomping their feet in the deep snow in an attempt to warn the possum to move away. The possum just sat there for a long time before he finally went on his way.

Earlier that same day, I went out onto the front porch. A doe in the orchard saw me and wasn’t quite sure of me. She quickly put her head down and up multiple times trying to trick me into moving so she could determine if I was a threat. I kept still, but the chickadees started flying up to me so I put seed in my hand to feed them. My movement caused the deer to finally leave. If you want to see it, here’s the video: Deer Sees Me.

Yesterday (December 1) was EJ and my wedding anniversary. We’ve been married 34 years.