So it has been a wild couple of days around here. Monday and Tuesday was warm and wonderful and I rode the bike to work. Even though I got wet coming home Tuesday night it was still not a bad commute. Wednesdays forcast with a possible three to six inches of snow that night made my decision to drive the Subaru to work that day. Coming home Wednesday night proved to be an adventure. After leaving Lake City at twelve thirty, where there was just a bit of slush on the roads, I made it to county road 16 that heads west through Bellchester. I had only traveled three miles or so when I had to wait for some emergency vehicles. There were two huge tow trucks moving a large milk truck out of the ditch. It was snowing heavily by that time and the slush would coat the headlights making them as dim as candles. Once the tow trucks were clear of the scene, I resumed my journey homeward, following a sherriffs deputy at about thirty miles per hour in the deepening slush and snow. If you went any faster there was a danger of being sucked into the ditch. Visibility was quite poor and it was slow going. I had a feeling that I might end up in the ditch at some point but the mighty Subaru just kept on plowing along. I met a snowplow rig just outside of Zumbrota. His headlights were caked with slush and I wondered if he could see where he was going. I drove the last four miles home on the wrong side of the road just to stay out of the deepening slush. It seemed that the closer I got to home, the worse it was. Our driveway wasn’t too bad, which surprised me and I arrived home about a half hour later than usual. That bed never felt so good after a white-knuckle drive like that one. And to think that it was May 1st! They will be talking about this one for years to come.
Thursday moring I spent blowing/ pushing snow with ‘Ol Bessie. What a workout for the old girl! There must have been at least a foot of snow on my car in the morning. The heaviest stuff must have come down after I got home. I can’t imagine anyone driving in those conditions. I made a pass just wide enough to get out so I could make it to work Thursday afternoon and then today I had to do it again as the driveway had more drifts from last nights wind. While I was working on the driveway a crew from the power company attempted to come up and they got stuck in the corner when they veered off the plowed portion and got hung up in the two feet thick slush. I gave them a tug with ‘Ol Bessie and they were on their way. While that was happening, my neighbor Jerry came slogging up through the ditch and wondered if I could plow him out. He was without power for all of Thursday night and had borrowed the neighbors kerosene heater in an effort to stay warm. I gave him a ride back to his place and after cleaning up his driveway and yard, I headed back home for lunch. By this time it had been raining several hours and I was a bit damp. First time I have ever had to blow snow in the rain, even though most of the time I was just blowing slush. There was so much snow that slid off our roof that it piled up on the sidewalk at least three feet deep in front of the door. We had to go in and out of the shop door until today when I was finally able to shovel and blow a path to the front door again. Wet and wild. What’s that saying? April showers bring May flowers. Don’t believe it.