Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Opposite of Hawaii

Doesn't Jacquie's vacation sounds heavenly? And we've only heard Part One! I'm not a jealous person, and I'm not jealous of her vacation, and I'm not jealous of her having to leave Hawaii to return to San Diego. What? I'm not!

I try to live in the moment, even if the moment, at this moment, entails my second winter in a row in Connecticut, after 8 winters spent NOT in Connecticut.

And in Connecticut, in the winter, it snows. At least it does this winter. And, well, it did last winter too.

We got dumped on the other week. Like 16" or something absurd like that. Mistah Schleckah, bless his heart, shovels only exactly how much he needs to shovel, to get poor ol' Westy in and out of the driveway, and to get us in and out of our house. (ssssshhhhhhhhhhh. He's shoveling, isn't he?)

Bill took this photo at Christmastime and captioned it, "Santa left a giant Entenmann's Deluxe Crumb". And was very pleased with himself.

We had a lot of snow during Christmas and New Year's, which resulted in our house looking like this . . .

. . . and this.

But what's really fun? Well, if you're geeks like we are? Is the compare-and-contrast aspect of it all. We do, after all, know when these huge storms are coming. The Weather Peeps go nuts forecasting these Storms of the Century, and the good citizens of this fair state go nuts buying milk and bread, as a result . . .

So that day the deck started out looking like this . . .

. . . and ended up looking like this.

Schleckah had to shovel from inside the house.

(sssssshhhhhhhh. he's shoveling isn't he?)

The tree started out looking like this . . .

. . . and ended up looking like this.

The Westy? Before . . .

. . . and after.

Our hood, pre- . . .

. . . and post-.

But the best thing of all was the watering bucket. Because Mistah set it up specifically to measure snowfall. It went from here . . .

. . . to here . . .

. . . to here . . .

. . . to here . . .

. . . to here. Oh dear. Poor little guy.

We really did get a huge dumpload of snow. Which still lingers.

The other great thing? Besides all those fascinating and enthralling compare-and-contrast activities during a huge snowstorm?

Is self-photography. Schleckah-style.

16 comments:

Imperatrix said...

Big snows always make me feel like I'm living in some frozen WWI nightmare: trenches, trenches, everywhere!

ChrsitineE said...

I like the snow but not the related ice. Running with my dog just prior to Christmas I slipped on the sidewalk and twisted my ankle. Began running again this week, but am boycotting sidewalks until April.

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Welcome Christine! I mean, to the commenting portion of our blog. You've already been the subject of one (http://tinyurl.com/ybkj3wg), and the impetus for two (http://tinyurl.com/yb9ytf4).

So.... are you running down the middle of the street now?

Ellie

p.s. aren't I cool with my "tiny urls"? I know!

ChrsitineE said...

Yes, definately the middle of the street unless the side of the road is clear. Luckily not much traffic at 6:00 AM.

another day in the 20's in PA said...

oh Ellie,
Thanks for making winter look so pretty in pictures. Could you somehow make temperatures in the teens and gray skies look appealing??
I'd really appreciate it 'cause I'm feeling a bit jealous of the west coasters right about now!

Me, You, or Ellie said...

"Could you somehow make temperatures in the teens and gray skies look appealing??"

I'm on it, Central PA. Anything to make me continue to be the better-liked sister.

Ellie

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Who says the weather in New London in the winter isn't fun? I mean, geez, if it's too snowy to play Champagne Homerun Derby (is it ever too snowy to play CHD?), you can instead engage in enthralling compare-and-contrast activities!

It almost makes me want to move to New England. Almost.

beth

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Wow, El! My kids are insanely jealous of all that snow. Me? Not so much. But if it's got to be cold, it helps if the world is beautiful and fluffy.

And PA... Is someone holding you hostage there? Do you need ransom? There are plenty of warm places where plenty of people choose to live, there must be something special about where you are that has made it the place where you choose to live. Right?

nice post, Ellie!

Jacquie

Anonymous said...

I think you guys have more snow than we do! And that's quite an accomplishment usually, but we haven't been dumped on too much so far.

Mom C said...

Brrrr, Ellie and Bill,but I love that pic of the porch at Christmas time, and Jacquie, the world around here is not "fluffy" - it's rock hard snow these days, but it's going to warm up to 40! xo mom

Captain Dumbass said...

Love Mistah's last photo.

Pickles and Dimes said...

I love the Mister's shoveling methods. I would do that too, if my husband wasn't so anal-retentive about snow removal.

Anonymous said...

Alas, I did not take pictures of our snow. I was too busy not shoveling. :)

Debbie said...

The Entenmann's joke was great! And that poor watering can. Well, really, poor you.

looking to escape Central PA said...

oh Jacquie,
would you really pay the ransom so I can return to warm, sunny, San Diego, where the man holding me in this cold dreary place, proposed to me?!? The ransom is only a salaried job with benefits and affordable housing, with a backyard, for a family of 5 within a 10 minute drive to the beach...not too bad, right?!
I'm in my cold weather rut which ends about the time summer starts, and is forgotten during the beautiful fall tailgating season, only to rear it's ugly head again in January!
I'll either get over it, or show up on your door-step looking for a bed and a great fish taco :)
(paying the ransom could move you ahead of your ultra-organized sister in the "favorites" race)

Logical Libby said...

See, that's the kind of snow I like. Right now we just have the black crusty, half melted stuff. It sucks.