Snow: Aftermath

It has been a couple of years since we’ve had a snow storm like this. I don’t know what the official snowfall total is for my city, but I live in a spot that is subject to snow drifts and the piles of snow in my front yard were easily over two feet. Down the street from us, the accumulation appears to be a lot smaller. I don’t care about their driveways though. Mine was pummeled. 

Last night I cleared most of the snow off of the three cars in the driveway, shoveled the driveway and the humongous plow snowbank at the end of the driveway, on the street. That was easily three feet deep and packed in tight. It was heavy too. Basically a shoveling worst case scenario. Finally, I dug out the fire hydrant at the end of our front yard. That involves more plow snow bank, just to add insult to injury.

I left a couple of things unfinished. I did not clean off the cars completely. They were still covered with frozen, packed in snow. It was less than an inch of coverage, but it was going to take an ice scraper to clean it off and I didn’t have it in me last night. I also did not shovel a path from the driveway to the door on the side of the house, which includes digging out access to the trash barrels.

My step son, Harry, was supposed to move from our house to his dad’s house for the week yesterday but the snow kept him with us for an extra night. I sincerely thank the snow for that gift of bonus Harry time. That means he is going to leave sometime this afternoon while Jen and I are working. I took a few minutes to fully(ish) clean off the car that was at the end of the driveway (as mentioned there are three cars in the driveway, our Mazda is on the end and Harry’s car is in the middle. The Mazda needs to move so he can get out) so it would be ready to go when he’s ready to leave. Further, that car was down to less than one gallon of gas so I wanted to fill it before I did anything else. 

Fortunately, the ice wasn’t too bad. I started the car and scraped it pretty clean in a short amount of time and then headed to the gas station. It should be noted that the state line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was, as usual, clearly defined on the roads. Citizens of Massachusetts pay sales tax and income tax. New Hampshire citizens pay neither. The state line is clearly marked by the spot where the road goes from snowy but safely passable (the Massachusetts side of the border) to barely plowed at all and a mess of snowy shit (the New Hampshire side of the border). You see kids, paying taxes means you get services from your government. Services like snow removal after a fucking blizzard. Dig?

Anyway, I went to the gas station which means I had to take pictures as if I were a youtube film photographer even though I am not a youtube film photographer and I took these with my phone.

Speaking of film photography, of course the morning after a huge snow storm had an absolutely glorious sunrise/golden hour which I was not able to take advantage of because mother nature is a friggin’ ass whipe.

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The gas station and car clearing process went very quickly which meant I had more time available before I had to start getting ready for work. I was inspired to spend that time finishing off the last of the shoveling. I dug a trench around the side of the house so that I can get the trash barrels to the street tomorrow, and so I can get the daily trash bags out to the barrel from the house. I also dug out the stairs to the door on the side of the house. While in the process I took one final aftermath photo with my phone. This time to give an idea of how deep the snow drifts were. Marvel at the depth…

It was deeper on the cars last night, and I think it is deeper in some spots in the back yard as well.

Well kids, there you have it. The snow removal fun is done. Here’s hoping the temperatures climb unseasonably high over the next few days and most if not all of this shit melt away and never come back. Seriously. I’m making a command decision and moving the whole family to San Diego, pronto. I hate snow.

Long Life

Daily writing prompt
What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
View all responses

The short answer is that living a long life sure beats the alternative, right?

I suppose the missing piece of this question is how do you define a long life? Is 70 years long? When I was 20 I would have said yes. Now that I’m 52? No, no, and no. What about 80 years? My father is in his 80’s and that no longer feels long enough. 90 years? Maybe. 100 years? Probably. 200 years? No we’re talking.

Heads up, readers, things are about to get a little dark here… You’ve been warned.

The other question here is not about length of life but quality of life. My mother made it into her 80’s before we lost her last year. She made it into her 80’s. On paper that sounds like success, but the reality was that her final few years were a nightmare of dementia and memory loss and constant physical agony. My father’s mind is still sharp as ever, but physically he’s in pain and barely able to walk. He’s also suffering from the passage of time in that his wife and all of his family that he grew up with and most of his friends are gone. Is that the quality of life you want in your later years? As stated at the start of this philosophical masterpiece, it’s better than the alternative. It’s also so sad and depressing.

Okay, that was way more sharing than I’m currently feeling comfortable with. Let’s put this post to bed now. 

(Non) Daily Haiku for You #121

Today’s haiku for you is brought to you by season six, episode 24 of Deep Space Nine and whatever that movie with Jodie Foster was where she grew up feral…

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine…
Most episodes hold up well.
“Times Orphan” does not.

Four Years Ago

We didn’t know it until a few days later, but on this date four years ago we lost Neil Peart. Easily the most painful moment of my musical life. He had such an impact on me. I’m sure if I ever told him that it would embarrass the hell out of him, so I would never have said anything even if I had the chance… but it’s true. It’s silly that some clown in a rock band that I never met could have such a huge effect on who I grew up to be… but it’s true. You know? It’s true.

Mental Health Break

I played guitar today. I worked on two songs. I used the direct out and cabinet sims off of two amps, which broke my amps and speakers rule for the re-recording project, but I didn’t wake Harry so that was worth it.

I played like dog shit, but I played and that’s what matters. I needed it. I have more to do so I might sneak some more playing in later today.

Sigh of relief.

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Different

Daily writing prompt
What could you do differently?
View all responses

I’m still not in a sharing mood (shockingly) so I’m not going to give specifics. Suffice to say if you ask me what I could do differently, my broken little brain is going to hyper focus 100% on negatives. You’ve been warned.

What could I do different becomes what must I do to stop failing as a human being. I must be a better husband, a better step father, a better son, a better uncle, a better brother, a better employee, a better supervisor, a better democrat, a better citizen, and a better neighbor… and that is just for starters.

The problem, of course, is that I don’t know how to do any of it. I’m working on it all though. I’ll do better. I’ll be better.

Snow

It’s snowing outside. We are supposed to get a big~ish snow storm starting late tonight and running through the whole day tomorrow. They are predicting about a foot.

Yippee.

I hate snow. I hate winter. I hate them with the fiery passion of 100 burning suns. You see the irony, right?