Snow Day

The snow started yesterday morning early.  By 7:30 it was blizzarding down so we donned our cold weather gear and got the pups to the park post haste. We walked in near white out conditions, then sped home to warm ourselves with toast and cocoa.

The snow continued all through the day, with small respites until late night.  Now we are completely snowed in -- the most snow we can remember in the last 20 (?) years.

Age and heart conditions have meant that Hubby has not been snow shoveling for several years -- thus, we no can no longer find a shovel in our garage.  The snow is too deep to broom it away from the stoop.  In fact, we had real trouble opening the storm door because of the snow depth.

Finally, at 9:00 this morning I put on the heavy winter clothing and waded out through the garage, hoping to blaze a path for the doggies, who have been patiently "holding" since yesterday morning.  Last night we did kick them off the stoop into a small path beside the side of the house where both doggies eventually gave up and some "business."  Luie was braver than Gussie but then Luie is quite a bit taller. 

Poor little Gus is simply out of luck.  He is just way too short, too stubby, and too old to cope in this snow.  There is a layer of freezing rain on top of the snow that causes him to sink below the surface with little crackling sounds all around him and then he disappears into the drifts and can't make progress going forward.  Luie is braver, taller, and more agile, so I could pull him into the pathway that I tried to blaze from the front door to the tree in our front yard.  Being blind, though, he flailed around, sinking deeper into the surrounding snow, getting colder and colder until we finally had to give up, and crash our way through the snow that was almost knee deep back into the house. 

Hubby has not ventured outside at all.  He has tried to call in the troops to come shovel and snowplow us out but his main crew has twice been snowplowed by the city crews into non-operational mode.

We have a super warming furnace, we have a good roof over our heads, we have plenty of snacks and healthy foods -- we just don't have a way to get the boys outside. The driveway is impassible, the car is buried, and we can only stand on our front stoop and look out at the white world encasing us.   This may become a long, stinky weekend. 

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Addendum:  You know, I thought that being snowed in would be okay.  We have all our physical needs met and we should be able to cocoon ourselves into pleasant dreams.   It isn't like that, though, when you have two doggies who sit longingly, staring out the screen door, or dancing on your belly in the bed, wanting to go outside and do their business and smell the business of the other animals in the neighborhood.  By 3 p.m. Friday we were experiencing a strong bout of cabin fever.  Hubby, however, knows folks in the 'hood.  We may not own a snow shovel and neither of us is in physical condition to run the snow blower (not in 15+ inch drifts) but eventually the crew showed up at the door.  Well, it was one man, but he had a shovel and was able to clear off the stoop, the small walkway to the drive, and the driveway.  We are now, once again, mobile (the old pink Lincoln can steer to the street) and I'm ever so grateful.  It took a couple of calls deeper into the 'hood to get the guy here, but Hubby's garage buddies (every African American neighborhood has the garage where the old codgers sit and chin and send out the youngsters to tow in the old wrecks we all drive) came through.  We have been rescued!  Thank the Lord and AMEN.