Nature’s moving gift to us (unwanted and unplanned!)

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One of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes winter cartoons!

It started on Sunday. White fluffy snow. The kind you loved to see as a kid because it meant a school day. I hated it when I worked because I didn’t get school days. It was even worse. For much of my career I worked for an electric utility that never shut down. My job was deemed essential. Boogers.

It continued to snow all day Sunday, all day Monday and all day Tuesday. It’s still snowing but the kind that doesn’t accumulate much. We don’t get weather like this often. The last one was five years ago and it wasn’t this much snow. I forgot how much work it is. That fluffy white stuff is heavy. It’s like that kitten that’s light as a feather and suddenly turns into a 20 lb. sack of potatoes. Very unwieldy on a snow shovel.  Not that I ever put a cat on a shovel.

Once you get to a certain age, you worry when your spouse goes out to use the snow blower or shovel. There are always a handful of deaths during a snowstorm and most are older folks overexerting their heart. So far we are healthy but we have another house to clear out.

Yes, the rare snowstorm which dropped between 26 and 30 inches of snow on our area, comes two weeks before our move. Since we have possession of the new home, that’s two homes to clear. The silver lining is that our move wasn’t planned for this past Monday. We hope that our moving day will reward us with dry, somewhat warm weather. I don’t need sunshine but please no precipitation.

We haven’t seen any kids out yet which is odd. This stuff is made for snowmen and sledding. Do kids do that virtually these days? Sure wish we could shovel virtually.

Morgan wondering why the snow is blocking her view.

Going forward our new home has a lot less driveway and only a very short walkway from the driveway to the front door. A whole lot less work. Next time it snows (after the next two weeks) I will smile, pick up a book and enjoy it.

By the way, our local Starbucks was closed so I was forced to make coffee at home. I had packed all the decaf except for three Keurig pods of hazelnut decaf. Gad, that stuff was awful. Perhaps because it was five years old. I’m tossing all the rest out. My favorite decaf is Emeril’s. It still packs a punch rather than tasting like perfumed dish water. Wherever you are, enjoy your weather!

I am SO over this!

73 thoughts on “Nature’s moving gift to us (unwanted and unplanned!)”

  2. A move during a pandemic and mid-Winter … you like a challenge. And of course it had been a nice Winter before you get down to the wire. The shorter walk will be a blessing. My neighbor had a mild heart attack shoveling and their four married kids, long gone from their childhood home, should have probably gotten their folks a service, but got a snowblower instead. That benefited me as he’d walk across the street and do mine if it fell during the day – I always did it before I left for work in the morning as I do now working from home. I’m going to send you a cute video I heard about today and thought of you. It may go to SPAM … it is cat related in this modern video age.

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  3. OMG. Coffee emergency! Where’s the ST Bernard dog with the keg of coffee under his chin…oh, what ever was in the keg would help, right?
    Great picture of Morgan. (Great idea to have little to shovel…one of my requirements going forward…)
    Not much more time – hang in there (and Weather gods beware, we’re watching!)

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  5. I thought of you when they mentioned PA among the states that were hit particularly hard. I’m glad that the new house doesn’t have as much pavement to shovel. Many years ago I happily had hazelnut coffee every day, and then one day I just decided that the smell sickened me. It was like a switch flicked and my brain said “no!” to it.

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    • I have always liked hazelnut coffee but I drink Starbucks mocha everyday and somehow it didn’t taste good anymore. It may have just been too old but I preferred the plain old regular decaf to it. The place that got the highest snow count, 35″, is about 5 miles from me. We registered 26″ and that was more than enough.

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  6. We are snow country here near Boston, so the 20 inches we got out of that snowstorm wasn’t a big surprise. What WAS a surprise was that even at 7 am while the snow was coming down, our Starbucks was open. Phew, because we haven’t had a coffee pot in years. 🙂
    Happy Moving – may it be sunny and warm on your actual move-in date.

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  8. Well, I don’t know about all the snow, I never go out in it, but I love sitting by the fireplace my human has. I get practically drunk on the heat! And I hear it is going to get even colder next week!! I should pack on a little more weight to handle it, huh? You should sit by the fireplace too! Morgan still looks good!

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  9. Best of luck on moving day. I’m sorry your made-at-home coffee was so bad. I made a change this week. I was drinking half-caf. Now I’m doing 100% decaf. It tastes just as good, and I think I feel better.

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  10. One home to care for in a storm is a lot of work. Two is too much! I’m glad to know that moving day is almost here, and truly hope the weather gods deliver dry and hospitable weather! And I hope there’s a Starbucks nearby!

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  16. You got a LOT of snow, lady. We got right at 10″ when it was done, and that was enough to clean up. Yes, as I was out shoveling this morning, and that shovel got heavier with each lift, I was thinking about how at some point age + shovel does not equal something positive. I’ll be hoping you don’t see another flake until you are all settled in the new digs. 🙂

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  19. Great cartoons! Love Calvin and Hobbs!
    I know with the snow we got its not good packing snow for building a snowman. Yes, stay healthy, don’t let shoveling snow cause trouble. Find a neighbor kid who wants some extra money. 🙂

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  20. Hope it’s all gone by your move day Kate. Love the cartoons. No snow here at the moment. We’re wondering if we’ve actually had our winter (a flurry about 2 weeks or so ago). I so remember Easter 2008 when we woke up to three feet of the stuff and it was the first time Maggie had seen it.

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  21. So sorry to hear this! The Januaryand February I gradually moved from my house to the old post office building I had inherited from my late husband there was a weather event every weekend I was moving stuff. Blizzards, heavy snows, ice storms….ugh. My first and (hopefully) last ever winter move.

    Deb

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  22. We missed the big snowstorm, but I’ve counted quite a few snowmen on my daily walks….and even saw some little ones sledding on a small hill in the park. Most winters I don’t see many kids out…but this year they’re all bored of being inside! It’s a nice sight.

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  23. Snow while moving…..not fair! Shorter driveway and sidewalk…..VERY helpful……is this what they call “balancing” out the good with the bad? Hopefully the endless snow will give way to sun and melting and a great move. Then you can finally draw a line under it!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • 🙂 We are also getting the names of contractors who do snow removal for residential homes. We could have used that for this one! Our last big snow was 5 years ago and wasn’t quite this big so it’s not all that frequent.

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    • We have an overabundance of snow! Love Calvin and Hobbes myself! Keurig is good in a pinch but you have to be careful with the pods. They go bad and some aren’t good to start with. Fortunately my husband makes brew coffee every day for himself so we have that out and easy to use. I just had to make decaf.

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  25. Even though it’s a pain as an adult, I still find snow magical. I can’t believe kids aren’t out playing in it! When we had a rare, two-foot snowfall in D.C., my siblings and I broke the storm door in our hurry to get outside to play. My dad was furious.

    Worth it.

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  26. I remember snow and snow days in northeast Ohio. Now I live in the south and rarely see snow flakes and it’s been years since there has been any accumulation on the ground. Did you get your Starbucks in spite of the snow?

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  27. When we lived in NJ, we had a couple of 30 inch snowfalls. UGH! We had a LONG LONG LONG driveway ~ it went up the left side of the front yard, along the short side of the house, turned right and went across the back of the house into a 2 1/2 car attached garage with a large pad for visitors. Great location when it didn’t need to be shoveled out after a storm but time consuming (and back breaking) to shovel after a snow dump.

    I’m glad you’re new place (and ours!) requires less shoveling. Sorry about the stale decaf.

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  29. I like snow but it can’t be much fun when you are trying to move. Our schools have been closed since Christmas so the children would not appreciate a snow day.

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  30. So much schooling is now virtual that kids don’t get “snow days” like we used to – so that’s probably why you didn’t see them outside, they were inside at school! I have a guesstimation of where you live based on your report of accumulated inches. My borough plowed in the side of my car on the street and then dropped the snow it had plowed directly in front of my car. My neighbor parked behind me shoveled out, tossing the snow from the front of that car to the back of my car. Fortunately, I can walk to a local drug store and at least get milk if I need it. I don’t think I’ll be out anytime soon! Take care and best of luck with the upcoming move!

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    • One school locally did create a “snow day” because this is a big snowfall for our area. Kids should enjoy it unencumbered by tasks. The last one was 5 years ago. Maybe today. You are lucky you can walk for what you need. We have to drive for everything. Fortunately our cars were in the garage so it was only a very long driveway that stopped us and all the snow on the streets!

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