El Blizzardo

Yesterday, all The Mrs. could talk about was the big blizzard we were supposed to have. But the weather forcast kept pushing out the start of the blizzard. First, it was supposed to be Tuesday afternoon, then evening, then 6am Wednesday, then noon Wednesday. I was skeptical. When I got up in the morning with MaxieC, I looked out the window, and nothing. Some wind blowing around the trees.

As it got lighter, the snow began to fall a bit. The first thing I noticed was that the waterfall in the near pond in the back had stopped. The pump had been sucking some air, due to low water level for a while, but I hadn't gotten out there to deal with it. I went out to investigate. Both ponds in the back were freezing over. The near one had its water level below the intake level, and the de-icing heater was beached on the rocks above the water level.

So I had to get out the hose and fill up the ponds. I knew I should have filled those things Saturday when it was 40 degrees.

Here I am surveying the situation. It's not all that cold (about 20 degrees), but there's quite a wind. You can't tell from the picture, but there's also a light, horizontal snow that makes it impossible to see to the east without some kind of eye protection. Not much accumulation yet.


FreddyC came out with me to check things out. He didn't last all that long before heading back inside to the warmth.


I got the waterfall going again. The pond started to de-ice, but shortly thereafter it started snowing much harder and started to re-ice. Oddly, when we had that week of 10 degree temperatures, the ponds never iced at all, but 20 degrees with snow causes them to freeze. The snow landing on the surface of the ice appears to not melt and eventually form a layer of ice, from what I observed.


The giant 1500 watt de-icer sits over by the intake. It is doing its job of keeping the intake from icing up, but it's not doing a whole hell of a lot more than that.


Being originally from Barfalo, I have some experience with these snowstorm things. I know you need to get out there and periodically clear the driveway, cuz if you wait until the whole two feet fall before you clear any of it, it's gonna be trouble. I managed to clear about 1/10 of the driveway before I got tired of shoveling. Plus, I was supposed to be watching MaxieC during that time so that HannieC and The Mrs. could do the homeschooling. I was overcome with guilt.

I took this picture about an hour later. The shoveled area has begun to fill in, and all you can see is the little mound between where I shoveled and where I didn't. Still not a whole hell of a lot of accumulation.


Nighttime got more interesting. The snow started falling harder. I tried to get a shot of the snow drift piling up by the play house, but mostly I got a shot of the snow falling.


I tried to take a photo of the three lit up pine trees in my neighbor's yard, but again, mostly I just got snow.


MaxieC checks out my fancy shoveling work a few hours later. Aside from the pile of snow at the side of the drive, there is no visible sign anyone ever shoveled anything. He insisted on doing this barefoot despite me warning him that he'd freeze his feet. Then he insisted on actually walking in the snow barefoot despite me warning him that he'd freeze his feet. Then he insisted on screaming bloody murder because his feet were cold.

Sometimes, childrens just need to learn for themselves.


About 8pm, the wind picked up nicely again. Here are a couple shots out our fambly room windows. The first shot was taken by me, the second by The Mrs. about a half-hour later.



The Mrs. and I both really enjoy blizzards. This is what happens to you if you are raised in Barfalo and then move to sunny Kaliforn-i-a. You get withdrawal.