Christmas in a Blizzard

We are in the middle of a blizzard. Buffalo is no stranger to blizzards however I do not remember one since the big one, in 1977, when I was a kid.

We have had storms, sure, however that is not the same thing. The snow flying around, the winds roaring, this is not something that happens every year.

Our next door neighbor, Dave, he had two huge inflatables on his front yard and both of them took off this morning. The snowman took off first. He belly-surfed across our yard and the yard next door and then took off down the street and whipped around a corner and that was the last we saw of him.

Santa was still sitting in the neighbor's yard. However when I took another look 15 minutes later, he was gone too.

They're outta here!

I was concerned for the werewolf. Last I checked, however, the werewolf was fine, menacing in the back yard. His big paws were covered in snow and he looked even more scary than usual.

With traveling out of the question I cleaned the first floor of my house. The renovations are proceeding -- the ceiling of the, ahem, solarium is in good shape after 10 years, the bathroom is repainted, the peeling wallpaper is down and the hall is repainted, the kitchen countertops are replaced. However the renovations are paused now for a couple of weeks and the house was in terrible disarray. 

Cupboards and cabinets are pushed into corners where they should not be. I had stashed all kinds of stuff into these cupboards and cabinets, and garbage was everywhere. Notice I said "was." It is not there anymore! I took two giant stuffed trash bags out to the tote. It was like the Perry expedition, taking the totes into the back yard! That was Howard's joke.

Howard texted me: "Good job, Commander Perry!"

I am telling myself: You could not have done this yesterday. You had to wait till today. The good news i is, now the house looks great.

 I vacuumed, I cleaned, I dusted, I rearranged.

Which is funny, when you think about it. It is not as if I am going to have any guests for Christmas. Heck, I might not even have Howard! Howard went to his garage earlier today not realizing there was a driving ban and he is stuck, riding out the storm in the apartment over the garage. So, it might just be me for Christmas Eve, who knows.

That's OK. I found this video.

So I am set. I will be content with my lot.

Christmas will be celebrated in this house.

Even if it is just me!

When Buffalo was buried in snow

 We have had only one snowfall this year. It was a big one. 

Now it is safely in the rear view mirror. All we have are the memories.

These were all taken when I was walking in the park.

At least that was the first day. The second day more snow had fallen. And when I tried walking in the park there was no walking to be done! It was the first time I could remember when Delaware Park had not been plowed. A runner agreed with me. The runner and I were the only people in the park foolhardy enough to have a go at taking our exercise under such circumstances. He could never remember the park not being plowed, either.

Since then, no snow. I am wondering if we will have our traditional Christmas Eve snowstorm.

As the Magic Eight Ball would say...

It is decidedly so!

The first snow

Today is the first snow and we are supposed to get several inches before tomorrow morning. Luckily it is ending about 6 a.m. and then we can plow out.

I always have great sympathy with people who have to get out and go somewhere because so often that has been me! I come from a family of teachers and when a snowstorm blows in, they are all la la la la la la la, because if it gets bad, odds are they will have off, and they can sit around and make snowmen and bake cookies.

Not me! I always had to get to work and even now I have to do work related things a lot. And I have to get to church for various things too. There is always something. Reminds me, I am fascinated by that song, "Let it Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow." I did a Let it Snow Christmas card, with a sketch I did of Hertel Avenue digging out after a storm.

But the lyrics, they have little in common with my life. Granted I think too much. But a few days ago I heard ...

It doesn't show signs of stopping
But I've bought some corn for popping...
The lamps are turned way down low..
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

And I was thinking: I cannot imagine a set of circumstances where I could just say, let it snow, let it snow. There is always something! If not tonight then next morning. Or next afternoon. You would have to be on vacation or something.

Ahem.

I am very lucky in that Howard is out getting the plow in order. He took that picture at the top of the plow, deployed just today, and my old Crown Vic next to it. Howard drives the Vic now.

I am sentimental about the Vic because Leonard Pennario rode in it and so did my mom. But the Vic is terrible in snow and looking at it I remembered terrible times in it. Such as once when I was coming home from The Buffalo News in a snowstorm. I was driving the Vic over the bridge on Michigan Street right by Scott Street and I was stuck in traffic and all I could think was, I am going to slide all the way down this bridge hitting all these cars.

Yikes!

So what I did was, I called Howard from the top of the bridge. As if that was going to do any good! But somehow I think it did. He calmed me down and then miraculously the Vic did not slide. Things went OK and I made it home ... hours later, but I got there. That was not a long time ago. That was pretty recent. It was funny, I was thinking: This is the worst snow drive of my life. And that included the time I was driving home from the Niagara Gazette and did a donut on the Robert Moses.

Ah, the memories.

The memories that a first snow brings!

Snow day in Buffalo

We are in the throes of a snowstorm here in Buffalo. And this morning I drew the above picture of Howard's 1970 International Harvester Scout, parked in the back yard and ready for action.

The whole city is pretty much shut down. The federal workers are furloughed again. The state jumped on board and those workers are off too. Schools are all shuttered, no surprise there. There are driving bans.

My friend Meghan, God love her, texted me this morning to go sketching the way we do every week.

I liked the idea and I said yes!

Then we went back and forth about what coffee shop we were going to go to. We found that Spot Coffee downtown was open until 3 p.m. so we decided to go there. Coffee shops are great to draw in when it is too cold outside.

"This is why we are going to kick every other artist's butt," I texted Meghan. Well, maybe I was not that rude but I was rude enough.

And after all that .... and after all that ...

.. Howard threw water on my plans.

That is too chilly to say. Bad metaphor. He put the kabosh on my plans, shall we say.  He had been out with the Scout and it was just too cold, he said.

"My fingers froze in 10 minutes even with heavy gloves," he reported.

So I had to slink back to Meghan with an apology and a reversal of plans. It is not as if Howard would have prevented me from going. Do not think I had not thought all this out! But it was like inviting something to go awry because if something did, Howard would not be quick to bail me out. Well, he would bail me out, sure. But I would not soon hear the end of it.

And so I am grounded like everyone else.

Oh well.

It is fun!!

It must be, because here it is dark again. I am never bored, I will tell you that. I am never stir crazy, not really. I have been sitting around drawing and writing and enjoying my endless stock of Celestial Seasonings Christmas tea.

Speaking of which, did I mention that my Christmas tree is still up? No wonder I am enjoying the day.

With luck, tomorrow will be just like it!