Snowed In

Well, like most of the midwest, Cream City Green got clobbered with a blizzard over the past few days.  I must admit, as a former Yooper, the prospect of 12 - 20" of snow in and of itself doesn't phase me much.  But even by my hearty standards, this was a heckofa storm.

Before I bought my current house, I was living in a duplex with a three-car garage and a side drive.  With all that driveway to contend with, my dad got me a snowblower.  I don't use it much here in the new house, with all 35' of street frontage, but it sure was nice to have yesterday!

Here's what I saw when I opened the drapes on Wednesday morning:

Even Cream City Pooch was having a hard time locating the steps:

We had some pretty serious drifts along the side of the house, too:

Those are full-size windows, by the way.

And, yes, for those of you paying attention, a rain barrel is on the wish-list for this summer!

The storm helped to point out some areas of the house that need some better weatherproofing.

I'll be replacing this door (moving it, actually):

And it looks as though the (detached) garage could use a bit of weatherproofing, too!

I actually love when Mother Nature makes us all stop in our tracks for a day or two.  It reminds us all of how fickle our lifestyle really can be.  I also love the way neighbors band together during snowstorms.  Yesterday, I spent nearly four hours clearing the alley and chatting with neighbors that we had never met.  We're already discussing barbecues and block parties for the warmer months!

As a parting note, I feel I should mention ...  Global Climate Change (or Global Warming, as most folks call it) is indicated by overall increased earth temperatures.  In temperate to cold climates, like ours, however, it is indicated by stronger and more frequent storm events and not necessarily by a decrease in annual snowfall or cold days.  

That's right.  Counter-intuitive as it may seem, yesterday's blizzard may well have been a symptom of global warming.

I hope you all got dug out, and enjoyed your day off.

Now I'm off to find another blanket and cup of coffee.....