Tags
Charlottesville, garden, home, Jonas, life, neighbors, Virginia, winter storms
At 10:30 AM last Friday, Jonas made his entry into central Virginia. First the flakes were fine and light. Then for thirty-six hours, snow fell continuously.
When Jonas finally departed, taking the 30 MPH winds with him, I measured 19″ in my backyard. Deeper drifts fill the front yard, so much so my tallest boots vanish in the stuff. Folks in the real snow belt may shrug at this, yet here in central Virginia, this storm broke all weather records.
this is the view from my back door, over the herb garden.
Since my narrow driveway won’t allow a plow, snow must be moved by hand. With few behemoth snow storms over my fifteen year residency, I never felt it necessary to own a snow removal machine.
So with much optimism, every few hours on Friday, I dressed and shoveled my driveway down to the gravel. By nightfall, everything appeared manageable.
Saturday was another story. The snow continued all day. I repeatedly shoveled a path around the terrace to the wild bird feeders and heated water bath. The temperatures were in the 20F, not counting the wind chill.
by Sunday morning this is the view out my backdoor
a view of the back yard, over the herb beds and terrace this morning
I was grateful that the power remained on throughout this blizzard, as my only alternative with this all-electric house, was to shove food into coolers and hike to a home down the road where there is a generator and wood stove. Once again, with few catastrophic storms, it is not cost effective to install either a generator or stove here.
front yard cypress trees along the driveway
By Sunday I faced an overwhelming task of snow removal…
view of the front walk and my new foundation planting completed in November
following 1.5 hours of shoveling on Sunday, I made it to the deer fence near the mouth of my driveway. This view is looking from the road back up my drive.
to give readers an idea of what I face at the mouth of my driveway, this is a road view of the snow wall left by VDOT
this is the view of the highway connecting to my road; clear sailing for those who can get out of their driveways
Presently, VDOT has no idea when or if they will return with plows to make a second pass on my road. I hesitate to dig the wall, as one pass from that equipment will sock me in again with another wall. Quite the dilemma.
In the meantime this storm taught me a lot about my immediate neighbors. There are seven other houses on my road, and this morning all those driveways are open. As of this writing, nary a person offered to help me dig out. This speaks volumes.
by adding an archival photo of more pleasant days, I end this post knowing that this too shall pass and perhaps there are new roads for me to travel, where I will find kinder, more thoughtful neighbors in a milder climate
How did Jonas affect your home? One thought frequently pops into mind: all things are temporary including this home, garden, life.
Copyright © 2016 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved
