Thursday, February 18, 2021

Winter blast

 Like so many of you around the U.S., I've been hunkered down here in Middle Tennessee this week as a winter storm came through. 

Ours started last Sunday, and the first wave came primarily in the form or sleet and freezing rain, with a little snow mixed in. By Monday, there was a layer of ice coating everything, including my driveway and street. 

Older Son and DIL had requested Wife's presence in Atlanta this week. They both had COVID, and by the time both of them had experienced it, about three weeks had gone by and they were both way behind with work, among other things. And Wife was only too happy to have some time with the grands. 

So Wife left last Sunday before stuff started falling. As she drove south, she drove out of it. 

So I've been going it alone this week. Since I work at home, my world has been pretty small. By Wednesday (yesterday) most of the streets had been plowed or salted. They didn't make it all the way to our end of the street, but everything was packed down enough by then that I could make it out of the driveway and down the street to where things were cleared. 

I made a run to the grocery store, along with hundreds of others who were stocking up on provisions as I was. Most everyone was cordial and polite and we waited patiently in line. I think we were all glad to be out among humans. We are already limiting our socialization during this pandemic, so a winter storm only adds to our feeling of isolation. 

Seems I made the grocery run just in time. By late afternoon, white stuff was falling again, this time in the form of snow in big flakes. I must say it was beautiful and this morning I woke to a blanket of white over everything. We had about four more inches on top of the ice that was already there. 

I stayed in again today, and we had a little more snow this afternoon. It has not been above freezing since last Saturday, but our friends the meteorologists are telling us to hang on, the sun will shine tomorrow and we'll be in the high 30s Saturday. By late next week, we're supposed to be in the low 60s. 

Having nowhere I had to go this week, I must say I enjoyed the snow. It has been a few years since we have had any significant accumulation, so it was fun to watch it fall and see if pile up. 

But now that it's done, I'll be ready to welcome spring and hopefully get the COVID vaccine around the time of its arrival or shortly thereafter. 

Yes, spring will bring hope this year.