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Last Week's Snow Storm
In northern Illinois, living just a few minutes from Lake Michigan, we've seen some pretty odd weather. From thunderstorm bands that hit just north and just south of us, to sweltering humidity, and yes, even a rainbow (though not NEARLY as beautiful as those we enjoyed in Hawaii!LOL) But this winter has dumped quite a bit of snow on us.
Last Wednesday we got 13" of snow here. Of course, that was a duty day for DH as there's no "snow days" in the military. Actually, he was duty driver that day and had to drive the CO and XO to/from the O'hare airport. He's a smart cookie, though, and opted to stay at O'Hare instead of driving back up here between the drop-off and the pick-up. He hung out in the USO room and chatted with fellow military members. I was just happy he wasn't making two trips on the treacherous roads!
At home we had a normal homeschool day. Afterwards we had gotten all the things set up for DD to make her Valentines for a swap the following week (today, in fact, as of this writing) but instead of starting I suggested we go outside and shovel the driveway and sidewalk to help Daddy out. DD was more than happy to join in, so we got bundled up and out we went.
WOW... the snow was 1/2 way up my calf! DD was a trooper and did the whole sidewalk herself while I went and started in the driveway. She finished the walk and came and helped me. Boy, was that a task! The snow was so wet and heavy. There was just so much of it. I even had to call DH on the cell phone to ask WHERE TO PUT THE SNOW!!!! We live in a court and quite frankly, there's not a whole lot of empty ground here. So, as per DH's instructions, we shoveled and piled all that snow up behind my mini-van. We shoveled for 2.5 hours, in the snow, during the blizzard. Crazy, yes, but MUCH appreciated by my DH who didn't get home until 7:30pm. He and I spent another 90 minutes or so shoveling the giant PILE of snow (he scooped and moved it to the yard pile two houses over from us, where the snow plows pile snow, IF/WHEN they ever come!) and clearing out new-fallen snow, etc. It was actually a nice time out there with him, albeit very cold and windy. He was just so amazed at the hard work DD and I had done. Four days later he was still oozing appreciative words to us.
The shoveling story that afternoon and evening would have been better had I taken photos of our progress, but alas, I forgot. Instead, I have these few photos for viewing.
Now, here's a photo from December 28, 2007, with DD outback playing in the snow. I show this as a frame of reference. Please note the neighbor's bushes to the left of her.
Here's those same bushes (along with the neighbor kids' snowman) around 11am last Wednesday:
You can just see the tops of them peeking up.
And, about 4:00pm, here's that shot again:
If you look closely you can just see a twig sticking out from where the bushes
should be, at the left of the photo. There on the right is our gas grill with cover on it and
snow accumulated on top of that.
For reference, here's an old photo from this past summer of the lavender and peonies that were growing inside a little wire fence, around the bird bath:
Here's that same area with the lavender over-wintering inside the wire fencing at about 11am last Wednesday--
Just the top of the fencing and lavender stalks poking out.
Crazy person out on the streets, driving uber-slow in the background. LOL
And at about 4pm or so, here's what that same area looked like:
No fencing, barely any lavender plant showing. Keep in mind, the tallest
of those stalks are well up to my thigh, and I'm 5'9".
Of course, after all the hard work DD and I did I couldn't very well say "NO" to her request to go attempt to make a snowman. I did tell her to face AWAY from the driving wind, though (which she is doing properly in this photo. LOL)
Her attempt was more like a snow pole than a snowman. LOL
But, blizzard or not, the Dark Eyed Juncos were fearless and came looking for seed throughout the storm. It was tough keeping up with the snow accumulation. So, I eventually rigged a little "sheltered" feeding bowl for them.
The red bowl is standing on its side as a "shelter" from the blowing snow that would keep
covering up their food. The seed is in a little terracotta dish. All this was right
up against our patio windows, in an area that was partly covered by awning and
had made itself lower than the snow accumulation on the rest of the patio, rather
ravine looking actually. The Juncos ate here all day. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any
photographs of them since they were so close to the window. They'd just fly away if I
tried to move the blinds for the shot.
DH and I laugh that the ONE time I opted to go outside and shovel (other than a random sidewalk swipe, etc) was during "the worst snowfall we've had since the blizzard of 1978!" (so says area residents.) LOLOL It figures.
YIKES! now I am worried about coming there next week..LOL. The kids will love that they get to wear their snow boots there though, as we haven't gotten hardly any snow this year in Maryland!
You can just see the tops of them peeking up.
If you look closely you can just see a twig sticking out from where the bushes
Just the top of the fencing and lavender stalks poking out. 
No fencing, barely any lavender plant showing. Keep in mind, the tallest
Her attempt was more like a snow pole than a snowman. LOL
The red bowl is standing on its side as a "shelter" from the blowing snow that would keep 
Posted by Anonymous 
Posted by 
Untitled Comment
what a lot of snow
we dont get snow like that here ever
stay warm