We now have snow on the ground – several inches. And when I woke up this morning it was 5 below zero. I knew it was inevitable because we’ve had such nice, warm weather this fall, but I still wasn’t ready for it. Oh, well, I’m just very fortunate that I don’t HAVE to go out in the weather every day anymore. When it’s ugly out I can just stay home and snuggle down in front of the fireplace with a good book or a movie.
Yes, we have snow on the ground, and I haven’t seen it come that fast for many years. About 5 o’clock the weatherman started issuing warnings that there would be blizzard conditions by 7 o’clock. Normally he’ll start talking about storm conditions hours or even days ahead of time, and most times they don’t materialize. But last night he was right on the money. Lovely Daughter was on her way home from work at 7 o’clock and she said it hit like someone opened a feather pillow and started dumping in front of a very large fan. The visibility was almost zero.
You see, here it very rarely snows straight down. When it does, we certainly don’t call that a storm by any means. When it snows here it snows sideways because of the strong winds that we have in the wide-open spaces. The storm was called an Alberta Clipper and swooped down out of Canada to do its damage. Fortunately it didn’t last long and was all over with by midnight. But if you’re caught out in the open in one of these things, especially when the temperature drops like a rock to below zero with the strong winds, you can certainly lose your life and very quickly.
Every other Monday night Ole has a training session down at the fire department. (He’s a volunteer fireman, you know.) And last night was that Monday night. So all the guys had been sitting in the training room for about fifteen minutes listening to the training officer when Bleep, Bleep, all the pagers started going off. Right at the height of the storm some poor soul called in a fire. His barn was on fire and there were two fairly new tractors and a new pickup stored inside. He was just about four miles south of our little town, but the guys got all their turnout gear on, trucks started, down the road in almost zero visibility and arrived at the fire in just a few seconds over four minutes. Unfortunately there wasn’t much they could do because the wind was so strong. They pumped water on the fire to try to contain it and to keep it from spreading to the other buildings, but the barn was so far gone by the time they got there they had to let it go. Ole said it must have had a good start before the owner even saw that it was burning.
We drove by there this afternoon and it was still smoking. It was so sad to see those two great big John Deere tractors and a newer pickup just turned into charcoal hulks.
So now Ole’s got one fire under his belt.
Yes, we have snow on the ground, and I haven’t seen it come that fast for many years. About 5 o’clock the weatherman started issuing warnings that there would be blizzard conditions by 7 o’clock. Normally he’ll start talking about storm conditions hours or even days ahead of time, and most times they don’t materialize. But last night he was right on the money. Lovely Daughter was on her way home from work at 7 o’clock and she said it hit like someone opened a feather pillow and started dumping in front of a very large fan. The visibility was almost zero.
You see, here it very rarely snows straight down. When it does, we certainly don’t call that a storm by any means. When it snows here it snows sideways because of the strong winds that we have in the wide-open spaces. The storm was called an Alberta Clipper and swooped down out of Canada to do its damage. Fortunately it didn’t last long and was all over with by midnight. But if you’re caught out in the open in one of these things, especially when the temperature drops like a rock to below zero with the strong winds, you can certainly lose your life and very quickly.
Every other Monday night Ole has a training session down at the fire department. (He’s a volunteer fireman, you know.) And last night was that Monday night. So all the guys had been sitting in the training room for about fifteen minutes listening to the training officer when Bleep, Bleep, all the pagers started going off. Right at the height of the storm some poor soul called in a fire. His barn was on fire and there were two fairly new tractors and a new pickup stored inside. He was just about four miles south of our little town, but the guys got all their turnout gear on, trucks started, down the road in almost zero visibility and arrived at the fire in just a few seconds over four minutes. Unfortunately there wasn’t much they could do because the wind was so strong. They pumped water on the fire to try to contain it and to keep it from spreading to the other buildings, but the barn was so far gone by the time they got there they had to let it go. Ole said it must have had a good start before the owner even saw that it was burning.
We drove by there this afternoon and it was still smoking. It was so sad to see those two great big John Deere tractors and a newer pickup just turned into charcoal hulks.
So now Ole’s got one fire under his belt.
8 comments:
wow!!! ole's 1st fire, a new look here, and an alberta clipper. it snowed here, but it pales in comparison!!! be safe and warm!!
I think that you all need to build a bunch of 50 story highrise buildings on the west end of town, to stop those breezes! Holy moly! That's one windy place you live. I know - I was there when there were high winds and I about got blown away. And let me tell you, that'd be one powerful wind!
Congratulations to Ole and his first fire!
And now that I've got this job thing, don't you worry, I can still come up and visit. They let me have afternoons and weekends off!
p.s. I love the look of the blog. Makes me feel like I'm smack dab in Scandihoovia!
Love the new look!! Very pretty!!!
I've seen snow once this year -- when we were in PA, coming home from my cousin's back to my grandma's. But it was just a flurry and didn't stick. I'm looking forward to a nice, cold winter here in RI after four years in WA, where the winters are very mild. But 5 below 0??? That might be a wee bit too cold for me. ;o)
Congrats on Ole's first fire!
Wow...your first storm and a fire. Did I tell you I love the new color you painted your place?
I have been so out of the loop when it comes to the news lately that I had no idea you guys were hit so hard already. We have only a small bit of snow, and it certainly is not covering the grass at all. All I can say is: Better you than me!!! Yeah, that's the kind of person I am!!!!! Love love love the layout, girlie!!! Especially the cyber scratch comic. Too funny!!!!
Great new layout! I can almost taste the gingerbread! Man-oh-man! Those Alberta Clippers really are rough gales, eh?! If anything was going to catch afire, that's the breeze that would stir the sparks. Hugs from Asia,
~ Sil in Corea
Great new layout. Makes me feel like christmas. Those storms are terrible!
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