Back to Winter

 We've enjoyed a beautiful spring-like day - the temperature got into the mid 40s here and there are bare patches on my driveway! It's going to freeze tonight - actually, it's already just about at the freezing point now, and slipping down steadily - and tomorrow, my driveway will be solid ice, I expect, except for those bare spots in the middle. No problem, we are expecting warmer weather next week again. The see-saw pattern continues.

I cleared the snow off my little back deck this afternoon. It was a couple feet deep because I hadn't shoveled it off all winter, and it was very heavy. Now I can open the back door all the way and I have a path at least to the garage. Some years I haven't bothered to keep it clear, but last year when I had that back roof shoveled, the  young man who did it was careful to clear the snow off that little deck when he was finished, and I was grateful. In an emergency, I might have to get out that door. With the snowbanks as high as they are around the house now, there isn't a really convenient way to reach the back yard - although I can't think of a really good reason to be out there, anyway. I used to go there to measure the overall snow depth a few years ago, but in more recent years, I have omitted that measurement from my reports. It was too much work to work my way over banks plowed up from the driveway and then wade to a level spot to measure snow. It involves carrying along a measuring tube, yardstick, shovel and container to hold the snow core, and it's a lot of work. There are usually several layers of snow separated by an icy crust that is difficult to break through, so measurements had to be taken in sections sometimes. That involved remembering what I measured, as well. I know it is important information in order to get a better idea of what to expect for spring runoff, so perhaps now I have better access, I will try to do that a few times before the snow is gone.

While I was outside, several helicopters went over. I saw two, but I believe there were more. They were not on the usual medivac route between Burlington and Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospitals, which is  right over my house, so I think they were flying some other mission. That was about 3 o'clock. 

I'm not sure what happened to the mail person today, but it was nearly 4 o'clock before mail was delivered. Perhaps it was muddy roads - or a new person on the route. I wonder if eventually our mail delivery will be cut to five days per week - or maybe even less. Most days I don't have anything but ads, so it isn't a big deal. I think a lot of people use on-line methods for communication these days. It gets irritating when I trudge to the mailbox on a particularly cold, windy day, and find just an ad in the box that I immediately toss into the recycling. It can't be worthwhile for businesses to continue to print their advertising on paper. Today I had ads, two catalogs, and a Valentine. That was very nice. It made the trip down and back worthwhile! 

The scanner is quite busy today, for some reason. I've heard calls about someone on I-93 who was acting strangely, someone with suspected pneumonia, a carbon-monoxide alert at a home, and just now two simultaneous calls about someone having a cardiac event, and a request for assistance from the Pines Nursing Home in Lyndonville, and after that, a chimney fire in Waterford.

That's it for tonight. It's time for a glass of wine and preparations for a meal. I'm not sure what I'll have tonight, but I'm thinking shrimp on rice with a nice garlic butter sauce and maybe some broccoli or a light tossed salad. Or all of the above. There was a time in my life when Saturday night meant baked beans; home-baked or store-bought, they just never were my  favorite meal. However, I tolerate them, and admit sometimes do enjoy them, but they will never be a favorite, I'm afraid. Stay well, be happy.