Either way....

Friday, 9:07 pm

By Kate

Jan

30

2009

Looks as if we’re getting weather again on Monday and Tuesday. Being a coastal storm, it’s hard to predict what will happen here. If the storm tracks to the east, we’ll get buried in snow. If it tracks a little bit inland, we’ll get torrential rain. Either way, the end result is lousy. Rain and massive snow melt mean floods. Most likely in my basement. Heavy snow and I’m packing my bags and running away.

Today was stage three of getting rid of ice from the last storm. I’ve been whittling away at the ice pile at the end of my driveway with a pitchfork and salt. I thought I’d gotten it down to a manageable size, but when I got in the car to run errands, I discovered pretty quickly that the ice pile was not whittled away quite enough. And I was out of salt. I got good and stuck. One of my neighbors came out to help. We chipped away at more ice and dumped an entire bag of kitty litter on the ice to see if I could get some traction. It helped enough for me to get out of the driveway. But there was no way I was getting back in without getting rid of the rest of the ice pile.

Soooo...I looked in the local stores for some salt. None to be found. I had to visit Wally World where I stocked up. I came home, parked on the street, and opened the trunk to haul out the bags of salt. The trunk lid and my head met soundly and suddenly there was a rush of blood pouring down my face. I slipped and slid into the house to see what damage I’d done to myself. Turned out to be a rather small cut on my head just a couple of inches above my hairline. But the path I left behind me looked as if I’d butchered a small animal. Good grief. What a mess.

Patched up and feeling fine, I resumed the de-icing routine. It took a while, but the ice loosened up enough to break up with the pitchfork and, finally, I was able to shovel away the crumbly bits. Enough to get back into the driveway.

At this point, I’ve had enough of winter. Really. And we’re only half way to spring. I’m not sure I’m going to survive it this year. I have so had it. Right up to my wounded noggin.