Friday, February 4, 2011

HOW TO SURVIVE A SNOW STORM....and life in general!


Those trees off in the distance is what I was shooting for. 
All I have to do is keep the truck on the road...but where is it?
This is a normal morning commute home from work in the winter.


It seems I always have a story to share with my family and friends and the following was an email I sent out to them in the wee hours of the night..  Apparently SOME (and you know who you are!) were rather entertained by this one and suggested I share it...so here it is.  This happened to me on Wednesday night.

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Well, it was quite the evening for me and I don't care to repeat it any time soon or if ever!
I did not travel safely tonight. We have 30 below wind chills and I got stuck about a 1/2 mile from home ( I thought it was a mile!). I called Hubby and told him I was stuck and would see how far I got shoveling. The worst part was a LARGE woman trying to put on coveralls in the front seat of a pickup. Not pretty at all! First I had to take my work boots off to get the coveralls on. Do you know how many laces are on work boots? Too damn many! I was huffin' and puffin' and almost too out of breath to go shovel snow. I then realized that my coat with the hood would not fit over the coveralls so I had a sweatshirt I tied over my head for warmth and three scarves wrapped around my neck. I looked like a human cocoon! Well, I got out and tried to shovel but the wind kept blowing the sweatshirt off my head and over my face. I was fighting with that and it was so cold and the wind was blowing so hard. It tried it for awhile but I am also doctoring with a bad shoulder and it was just not happening. I got back into the pickup and what do I see coming down the road...a flashlight! Hubby was coming to save me! LOL...and all I did was yell at him to get in and warm up. He was not supposed to come and shovel because I had told him to stay put. Oh, well, he never listens to me anyway! No one is supposed to walk in this kind of cold! Well, he shoveled and I got it to move about 30 feet total and we sat in the pickup and decided the only way to get out of this mess is to leave the truck! We should not have even thought about leaving the vehicle as we are always told not to do but we did. My allergy to cold was about to be tested...to the limits.


Anyway...I bundled up as best as I could and I left only a small spot in front of one eye to look out of.  Hubby told me to hang onto the handle of the shovel and he would guide me.  Do you know how dark it is out at night. Pitch black! I think I went about 10 feet and I got stuck in a snow bank and twisted my bad knee and went right down. Oh, I was covered in snow and couldn't get up right away. Hubby's biggest fear was that he might have to carry me back to the house! I finally rolled around like a garden slug and was able to get a footing and got up. It didn't hurt so bad that I couldn't walk so off we went again. I told him that I needed both hands for balance or I would fall again so I let go of the shovel. I felt the cold air coming in that little spot I left open so I just covered up my head completely with the jacket I was carrying for more warmth. He held the shovel in front of his face to deflect the wind because it was so bitterly cold.  He then proceeded to direct me to go to left or to the right and led me down the road. OH, it was quite the ordeal and I would have loved to have seen us on camera! I was definitely sucking wind the whole way!


I was never so glad in my life to get to our driveway. The truck will be in an even bigger snow bank tomorrow and we now have no vehicle until someone rescues us. I have to call someone early in the morning and make sure they do not send a snowplow down there or it might get hit. Probably smuck our truck and it will fly out in the field somewhere in a million pieces. Oh, I really hate winter! I am too old for this crap!
I took a nap after I got home because I was so exhausted and slept until 4 a.m. and to think I was planning on being at work all night!
One thing is for sure...if Hubby will walk a mile in a snow storm to rescue me...I better behave myself!
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UPDATE...NEXT DAY...THURSDAY

Well, I called a township board member and told him our situation and to be sure not to let the snowplow come down here because the truck was sitting smack dab in the middle of the road stuck.  He said he would get the message out. 

Hubby decided to walk back to the truck and see what he could do.  As he walking towards the truck...off in the distance he sees the snowplow coming!  He said he tried to shovel like crazy to get it out but nope...the plow came right up to the pickup.  I guess there had been a slight miscommunication!  The poor operator had to then back up about a 1/2 mile with the snowplow and that is no easy feat.  A neighbor had spotted Hubby out shoveling and called another neighbor and told him that he was out there shoveling like a mad man.  Apparently he had seen my Hubby the same time Hubby saw the snowplow!  That neighbor came down and then another neighbor came also.  I was curious as to what was going on and he does not know I was watching them all with the hunting field glasses all from the warmth of the living room window!  Amazing what you can see thru them!  They did quite a bit of "Shootin' the Bull".  Awhile later a Bobcat Skid Steer loader comes in the yard and snow is blowing everywhere.  The neighbor had not only cleaned out the road and got the truck to safety, but he blew out our yard also!  WOOHOO.
What a great place to call  home!  What a great bunch of people to have around!

Yes, and that is my life on the farm....amazing how I manage to keep living and telling about it! 

4 comments:

  1. I love it ! Now, that is just one reason why we live up here...( the neighbors....! )

    So glad you got cleaned out..... now we need a picture of you all bundled up ! ! ! ☺

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  2. We need a .svg SNOW PLOW!!!!! Glad you're safe and really glad that I live in town!

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  3. If I didn't know you so well, I would have laughed my arse off reading this...but I have seen your allergic reaction to cold and know how hard that snow was for your DH to shovel! What good neighbors! Let's all pray for an early spring!!

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  4. And to think I was bitching about North Florida weather. Loved this and sure laughed. So glad it worked out well. Janie

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