A Week of Snow

 This past week was a cold one. A lot of it has been spent inside, looking out. I made a couple little trips during the week, to fill my lungs with fresh air and to give myself a change of scenery. It started off on Sunday, with the beginning of what the weather forecasters predicted would be anything between 3 to 80 inches of snow. They had been warning us about this for the past week. As usual, supermarket shelves were getting bare. I myself was looking forward to it!

    For once the forecasters had gotten it correct. First came the snow and then later, cold, cold temperatures. As the snow started to accumulate, I made numerous trips out to shovel my walk. These outings were the only times I left the house that day. As darkness fell, there was about 9 inches of snow in the yard. It was still snowing as I went to bed. 

    Monday morning I started digging the car out of the mounds of snow pushed up by the plows. Once the car was free, I took a short ride down to Etna and back. I was thinking about getting some pictures but most places hadn’t been cleared yet, so finding a spot to park was difficult. Back home again, I returned to my books and the boob tube.

    On Tuesday morning, Ann Marie and I went for a drive to get some breakfast. The drive to her house was uneventful but there still weren’t many spots to pull over for pictures. The hills and valleys still had that undisturbed look to them; the deer and kids hadn’t spoiled the smooth surfaces yet. The snow piles were getting higher at the ends of people's driveways. The diner wasn’t crowded and the food was delicious. It is always nice to have someone cook for you. The roads were still relatively car free.

    Wednesday morning I took a ride to Bakerstown to visit the farm market. I arrived before they opened so I continued north on rt.8. At the Country Kitchen I stopped to take a couple pictures and then returned to the market. The parking lots and roads still had large piles of snow around them, they wouldn’t be melting soon. At the farm market I bought some fresh vegetables, some apples and a loaf of bread. I then went to Ann Maries to share my bounty. 

    Later that night I braved the cold to watch the International Space Station pass below the planet Jupiter and then I took another short ride. Afterwards back at home, I retired to my book and a warm bed.

    Thursday morning, the frost was forming on the windows. I went down to the North Side to visit Arlan at City Books and to watch for trains. I finished the roll of film in my camera, so when I got home; I developed the film and then scanned it. I stayed inside for the rest of the day working on that, nice and warm.

    Friday, the end of the month, was a cold day! Ann Marie and our buddy Jim went to visit a coffee shop that was new to us. On the way to pick them up, I met a man down beside the Alleghany River taking pictures, wow, crazy huh? Who would ever want to do that? (Me???) I only stayed for a few minutes… As I was driving over to Ann Marie’s house, the car thermometer was showing that it was -3 degrees outside. We picked up Jim and then after a short drive we stopped for coffee.

      We had to search a bit before we found a spot to park but we found one about a block or two away. The sidewalks were a bit treacherous but we managed to get there and back without any problems. At Constellation Coffee we had sipped hot coffee while we BSed, sitting in the sunlight coming through their front windows. The shop smelled like fresh ground coffee like any good coffee shop should. We were warm and happy. Good coffee and good friends generate good conversations!

    Leaving the shop I saw a sign showing two things, both the state of our nation and the state of the weather!

      Saturday was spent at home. I only went outside to get the mail and to put out the garbage. I also made a trip out to the bird feeder but that was it. I took two pictures that day…here’s one of them. Afterwards… I ate my model!

    And then it was Sunday again. A week had gone by, the snow was still piled up on the street in front of the house, and the temperatures were still hanging below freezing. I like it but hopefully the temps will be rising soon, and the snow will start to melt. This IS Pennsylvania in the winter; it makes me look forward to, and to appreciate the rains and muds of spring. 

    I’ve reloaded my camera with another roll of film, and the digital camera is charged up, I’m ready for the next week, bring it on!