"Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it ... Not."

Mame arrived to take me Christmas shopping in the old Ford truck. I was outside shovelling our first snowfall. We had 23" in twenty-five hours. The snow was dry and powdery, easy to shovel, hard to walk in and impossible for most cars, trucks and buses to navigate. Beautiful, though.

I was a little afraid of so much snow on the roof, especially later when the total approached eighty inches. Then it started to rain/snow and everyone's roofs were picking up a lot of weight. "Big box" stores with flat roofs were closed until they could shovel off. Around thirty buildings of various sizes collapsed. After that, I found it unnerving to lie in bed and listen to the house creak and snap, knowing what was on the roof. Now it is melting slowly, freezing to the streets at night and thawing during the day.

The streets were not plowed until we had the third snowfall in five days. Mail service was interrupted and even the news carrier missed a day or two. The yard man, Paul, was excellent. He came when we (neighbors) called, and used his brand new snow blower to clear the driveways and main walkways. I shoveled the areas that were difficult for him to access with his big machine. The snow compacted but has stood somewhere between my knee and hip since December 17. This is my second memorable winter here.