Adrift in Snow and More Snow

Here we were not so long ago gloating that winter was reluctant to show its face. And here we are, in December certainly, but not yet anywhere near winter on the calendar. The relatively warmish October and the first two-thirds of November lulled us into believing that when winter finally arrived it would do so gently, just kind of slide into a kind of sweet wintry presence - eventually becoming cold and snowy, as is its wont.

Now we know otherwise. Winter decided to make an early entrance, belying the previous two months’ weather complacency. Before November even slid into December we were already the surprised recipients of more snow than we’ve experienced in all of December in the last several years. And then, when December turned the corner it was to wallop us with what we can only hope will be characterized as the snowstorm of the season.

Although Environment Canada warns otherwise, with its latest long-range prediction for the winter of ‘07/’08, thanks to La Ninya. We enjoy snow, and lots of it, as much as any winter-loving Canadians, but this took on the aspects of a relentless vendetta, with high winds whipping the snow all over the place, creating chilling white-outs. As fast as we shovelled it, the winds whipped it back in again.

And it began to pile up higher and higher. School buses were cancelled; the second time in a week and a half. Traffic was hopelessly backed up and accidents cropped up all over the place. Tractor-trailers slipping into ditches, buses shoved into snowbanks. Everyone was incredulous that what was normally a half-hour drive to work turned out to be a two-hour tribulation.

By Tuesday city work crews were still working overtime, full steam ahead to try to cope with the snow burden. Traffic was still slow, and Tuesday’s accident levels surpassed those of Monday, the day of the storm. Actually, the storm raged all Sunday night, on into Monday, only levelling off some time during the early morning hours of Tuesday. We even saw some sun on Tuesday, and the temperature rose to a balmy minus-6.

With some wind, mind, but we thought we’d take the chance and go off with Button and Riley into the ravine for a walk. The last three days of inclement weather, with daytime highs not nudging above -14, and stiff winds making it seem more like minus 26 with the wind chill factored in, and the burden of snow convincing us we’d be better off not going in for our usual walk.

We know how difficult it is for Button and Riley to trudge through thick snowfalls; they are, after all, very small dogs. And we were spending a lot of time outdoors anyway, between us, shovelling out the backyard to give them a bit of roaming space, during those times when they did venture out. And doing the same in the front, clearing away the mountains of snow in the driveway and the front walk - because we have to.

When we did venture out into the ravine on Tuesday it was tough, slow going. Picture the trails with roughly a foot of snow dumped on them. Well, it makes for a wonderfully brilliant picture, absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, but it’s also difficult to maintain any kind of gait, and trying to plod along just takes all the stuffing out of us.

Button manages pretty well, with her long legs, and good attitude trailing in our wake, but it’s truly tough on Riley with his short stubby legs. We knew if we put their boots on it would be even more difficult for them, but took the gamble that at -6 they could manage without. And they did, brave little souls. Although we did manage to do barely half our usual circuit, puffing all the way.

That big tough 10-1/2 horsepower snow thrower we bought for our daughter three years back, when she moved into her rural log house is giving her problems. Somehow I believe that it’s easier for men to use these contraptions than it is for women. Women aren’t quite as mechanically gifted as men, and much of that owes to the fact that it is men who gravitate to the use of these things, either through social convention or the utility of handing off gender-specific roles.

In any event, although she used it on a number of occasions previously, the thing refused to work for her this time around. She had filled it with gas, turned it on, and set to with it, but it kept sputtering and balking. Naturally, when things like this happen she telephones us immediately, and her father tries to think of what she could do. Check that it hadn’t flooded. Make sure there wasn’t something stuck in the auger.

And of course if it’s the spark plug, her father can’t do anything long distance. It is guaranteed for four years; the thing of it is, hauling it in to the nearest store, about 15 miles distant. She kept trying, with no success, until later in the afternoon, when a neighbour, a farmer-friend drove by in his tractor on his way to the house down the road of one of his (estranged) wife’s colleagues, another young woman who lives nearby.

He stopped to find out what was happening with our daughter - seeing her trying to shovel all that massive snow load by hand. It took him a few minutes to clear it all away with the huge auger he had on his tractor. He scolded her for not calling him, and told her he’d be by any time there was another snowfall of that magnitude.

She did have a seasonal contract with another of her neighbours the year she moved in, because the previous owners had paid for the service. But it’s over $300 and she didn’t want to commit that kind of money, preferring to do the work herself. Anyway, perhaps her auto mechanic friend can have a look at it on the week-end when he comes over, to try to determine what might be wrong with it; might even be water in the gas line.

Here's hoping the ravine trails will have been tamped down a bit by tomorrow, presenting us with far less of an energy-sapping experience.