On December 16th we got our first significant snowfall of the winter. It was over 24″ in a short period of time.
I enjoy the beauty and renewal of a fresh snowfall, even though I have to shovel a bit, mostly because I choose to have animals out in the barn to feed. Dean’s job however, he doesn’t actually enjoy. He takes on snow blowing our 800′ long driveway, on our 20+ year old tractor. It doesn’t sound too bad except he usually gets all the snow blown back on him. It can take him hours depending on how much it has snowed. He ends up looking like a tall thin frosty the snowman and he probably feels that cold too.
Our son has a snow removal business. The big snowstorms, like our first significant snow means, very long days, but he is grateful for the work.
My sister and husband usually winter in the Florida Keys, but this year decided to stay in their summer home in Upstate NY because of Covid. She greets every snowfall with happy anticipation of shoveling snow, hmm; well, not so much. She hates it and can’t wait to get back to the tropical weather. Oh did I mention she is always cold and has little bitty dogs and chickens so has to go out in the morning to shovel and she is not exactly a morning person. She vows that next winter to stay in their travel trailer safely parked in the warm breezy sunshine.
Now the grandkids come from a whole different perspective. What is not to love about snow when you’re a kid? Do you remember? Both families are homeschooling so they don’t actually get a snow day from schoolwork. But they still manage to get up here to relish the newly fallen snow. They know when the snow it great for sledding or making snowmen or snow forts. This year they have graduated to our longer north facing hill. Now we get to watch them from our window. It is so fun to watch them and it is also a good thing because at their ages, they don’t recognize danger when they see ( do ) it. Like the time we saw the twins sledding down the hill and under the gate at the bottom the hill and Miss Number Four bumped her head on it. I made them stop and I told of the the dangers. The next day my daughter said, she had asked her what paralyzed means. Yes, I went there. The next time they were sledding into the ditch at the bottom of the hill. They had been told not to go into the ditch which has lots of big pointy rocks. Anyway, if there is no snow for a while the hill gets icy and fast. The kids were not happy when we told them it was too dangerous to sled today. Then we got another 8 inches of snow. Oh happy day, let the fun begin!