Out of the blizzard!

I’ve been quite lax recently in keeping up with Roundtop Ruminations, and for that I apologize and will try to do better.  Lately, I’ve been taking photos and posting them on Facebook, mostly due to a lack of time. Feel free to friend me there, if you like (Carolyn Hoffman).  Those photos go up pretty much as soon as I take them, though often with a cellphone, as that is more quickly at hand, especially when I am walking the dogs.

Most of this past week has been spent shoveling 31” of snow that fell during the blizzard of 2016.  With help from Roundtop Mountain Resort, I now have my car dug out in and in my driveway.  Plus, the sibling, sibling-in-law and I have also gotten the farm’s driveway plowed out and dug out, at least as much as it’s going to get done.

The chickens have gotten over the shock of seeing so much snow, but still haven’t found their way clear to lay me any eggs.  I hope that changes soon! I can’t say I blame them, though.

Around the cabin, I’ve been seeing deer and turkey. They have been using the plowed driveways and walk paths for their own travel, as that is much easier than wading through so much snow, though doing so brings them closer to people.  They don’t appear to mind this. Somewhat to my surprise, the Carolina wrens are still around.  After a big snow in 1993 or 1996 they disappeared for several years.  Those little southern birds like to roost and nest under tree roots and similar ground tangles.  In heavy snows they are buried and can suffocate or starve.  But in this snow the birds were out and about the day after the blizzard, so they made it through this time well enough.

My feeders have been busy with birds—nothing rare this winter—though I have had some local birds that don’t normally appear in my feeders show up demanding food. The blue jays have been out in force, as have a pair of crows.  I think this is the first time I’ve had the crows in the bird feeders.  Naturally, these large birds empty the feeders faster than the little ones.  One of my errands today will be replenishing the bird seed.  I am nearly out, and the birds are counting on me!

Snow news

Snow continues to dominate my own personal headlines here on Roundtop Mtn. Not much has melted, and shoveling continues, though at a slower pace. I’m tired of shoveling. Tonight, more snow, if not a large amount. I’m trying to decide if several inches of new snow will mean nothing or if it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. At this point, I can’t decide.

Today, I am posting some more snow photos. Snow photos are all I have and are all I am likely to have for some time.

Apparently, I was lucky to get off the mountain on Thursday afternoon. My brother lives two townships over. Unlike me, he lives in a good-sized development, so isolation from a population center doesn’t apply to him. However, apparently the township snow plow(s) broke, and his end of the township wasn’t plowed out until late on Friday. Believe me, it’s a first for me to be plowed out before he is.

The snow is still drifting and sometimes comes close to closing the roads again. It’s not as bad as it was on Thursday and Friday but even yesterday drifting sometimes reduced the roads to a single lane. The second photo is my back deck.  The snow is nearly up to the railing on the left, and the stairs have disappeared.

I still haven’t seen any new bird species at my feeders. At this point, I’m going to assume new species will not be found at my feeders this winter. I am seeing some new configurations of the usual species, though. It is rare for me to have mourning doves at my feeders, though when the weather gets bad, I often have a pair of them. That pattern continued until yesterday when 5 showed up—a record. The male northern cardinal has been singing all winter—even the snowstorms haven’t slowed him down. This morning he was answered by one of the Carolina wrens, and they echoed each other back and forth for a bit.

Yesterday, a female house finch put on a pathetic performance. My tube feeder has a higher and lower set of feeding perches and was empty down to the higher set of perches. The chickadees were able to sit on the top perch and dip down into the tube for a snack. The female house finch couldn’t fit herself on that perch and eat too, which frustrated her no end. She’d go to that perch, try to feed, eventually give up and return to the branch above it. After a few minutes she’d try the same thing again, apparently not smart enough to go to the lower perch where she could easily reach the food. I watched this for four or five attempts, then simply couldn’t stand it any longer and went outside to fill that feeder.

It wasn't pretty

I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty and it wasn’t. Another 20 inches of snow fell on Wednesday on top of the 25-27 inches I’d gotten three days before. The wind blew at 30-40 mph, and most of Wednesday afternoon was a total whiteout. I didn’t lose power, amazingly, so that was a good thing.

The governor closed all the roads, including the interstates, even going so far as to plow the on-ramps shut to keep people off the roads.

When the snow finally stopped, well, there was a lot of snow. How much snow is there? Whenever an experienced driver can get his front-end loader stuck in it, you know there’s a lot of snow. That’s what today’s photo is. Good neighbor Larry getting the front-end loader stuck in my driveway.

But it could have been worse. Even the chickens did okay and my little angels continued to lay eggs during the blizzard. I guess you can’t keep a good chicken down. Baby Dog is still having trouble figuring out how to do her business in this much snow. She bounded into the snow on Thursday and immediately sunk over her head. It was hysterical watching her trying to extricate herself. Dog has figured out that if he “swims” in the snow he can get around well enough.

The roads are still drifting shut periodically, which is why the kids are still off school. The roads are in good shape if they aren’t drifting closed. The snow piles are huge. In today’s second photo, the undrifted snow is nearly deeper than my snow shovel. At least, I think that’s undrifted snow. You can’t really tell.

The birds fed like crazy throughout the storm. I had over 30 juncos on the deck at one point. I still haven’t seen any unusual species, but the Carolina wrens, or at least one of them, made it through this storm, too.

I ready to not have any new snow for a while—at least a week without new snow would be nice.

It ain't gonna be pretty

Unlike the pretty Northern cardinal in today’s photos, I won’t be able to say the snow I’m going to get later today will be pretty. On top of my 2+ feet of snow, I will likely get another 18 inches of snow tonight, followed by heavy winds. Yet another nor’easter will hit my area, and I’m really not looking forward this round.

Four feet of snow plus winds usually doesn’t equal electricity around here. So keep your fingers crossed for me on this one.

The cliché of the day is “where are we going to put it?” After 2 feet of snow, great piles of the stuff are all over the place even now, sometimes so high they impede traffic when you can’t see around a corner or an intersection. Already, high banks of snow surround me when I drive, making it feel as though I’m in a canyon.

Basically, no has yet offered a good answer to where this new snow is going to go. I’m not sure I can shovel something four feet high, so the next few days should be interesting, but perhaps not in a good way. In any event, it would be a good bet not to expect any more posts from me for a few days.

Blizzard!

No photos until I get back to hi-speed internet.  I am currently almost at 2 feet of snow.  It is hard to measure accurately because the snow is blowing and drifting. Even the ski resort is closed because we're in a state of emergency and no one is allowed on the roads. 

I shoveled last night right before bed--had everything clear with about 6-8 inches of snow.  This morning, I had to force open my front door, half inch at a time until I could squeeze out.  The snow is past Dog's belly and is halfway to the top of his back.  Baby Dog looked like she was swimming in the snow.

For now we are all safe and sound.  Good neighbor Larry cleaned out my driveway and the lane with a front-end loader but at this rate, he may need to do it again once the snow finally stops.

No sign of the Carolina wrens this morning. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't make it.  All the other birds are feeding like crazy.

I'll check in later if I get the chance.