I'm in southwestern Ohio -
We lost electrical power Friday night about 8 pm and it came back on about 4 am on Sat. so last night I fired up the Buck stove to keep from freezing. Good thing there was a big stack of wood on the front patio under a tarp.
This morning we had to chip the frozen, hardened snow away from the front door, from the inside, so the dogs could get out. The fuzzy sweep on the bottom of the door got wet and froze, so the door only opens about 15". The deck and deck doors had to be shoveled out too. Let's see what else - the dogs needed a pathway shoveled around the house and a spot cleared so they could poop.
Someone was to come look at a pup today, but the roads were so bad I called her and told her not to attempt it. We just got the driveway cleared about 9:30 pm because we had to use the snowblower. We usually use the backhoe, but it was so cold the battery wouldn't even turn it over.
Every winter there are several days the roads are just too nasty to get to work. We live out in the country and even with the snowplows coming thru, the wind can blow drifts so one side of the road will be clear and the other side of the road may have 2' of snow on it. Then if the roads are really bad, the Counties will call snow emergencies from level 1 to level 3. Level 1 means the roads are bad, level 2 means you should only be out if you HAVE to be, level 3 is for Emergency Vehicles ONLY, you can be arrested for being out on the road if your purpose isn't an emergency. And if you fall off the road into a ditch - you will sit there, cause the tow truck won't come out to help you.
When the snow melts, and that could be weeks to a month away depending on the temps, it can get messy because the ground will still be frozen and the melt has no where to go.
We can get cabin fever REALLY BAD! A hobby helps, I do a lot of reading and spend time with the dogs. And no kidding, several years ago near here there was a body found by the roadside after the snow melted. The guy had been dead a few weeks and his wife got tagged as the murderer.

On the news, they sometimes show people out shoveling the snow while it's falling. I can see doing that once the snow has stopped, but if it keeps falling, it's just going to re-cover the area just shoveled.

Also, do y'all put sheets or anything over any of your bushes or small trees? Down here, a lot of people put sheets over their Hawthornes, Azaleas, etc., when they hear a freeze is coming. But I never see that on news reports of northern areas getting hit by a lot of snow.

And . . . if your electricity goes out, how do you stay warm? Do any of you buy mylar blankets?







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We scoop the snow out of the way piling or trucking it away. Read large heavy equipment here. Snow blowers, snow eaters, snow plows take care of the most of it, leaving scooping just to around doors and walks. Yes we drive to work-avoiding idiots that don't know how to drive in and on snow and ice. If in doubt stay home and check with the road patrol before you venture out. We how live with this regularly, keep several weeks of food, potable water, alternate heat and energy source ready. Be prepared.

When it all melts in spring we call it mud season, and yes it's also a pain especially if the melting comes all at once. We live it and love it for the most part and do go a bit stir crazy at times if we can't get out for a week or so. My hubby works fixing electric line grids and he has had a very busy winter with all these storms!

And always .....Winston

we got two feet right before Christmas and two feet today and a few little minor snow storms in between, but the grocery stores are always packed the three days before snow is to come. Usually they call for state of emergency to try to get folks to stay off of the road so that the roads team can get their job done. The news always snows the few people out slipping and sliding and getting stuck though.

When it snows, we stay in and have the worst cabin fever ever. during the week if I stay in I never feel like this, i just feel like there is nothing to do but sit on the sofa, watch tv and eat lol. Brock loves going out in the snow, but today its high enough for him to get lost in it. When I opened the door to let him out this morning, there was a foot of snow up against the back door and two feet against the front door. The last storm that we had, we had a few days of really warm weather afterwards so it melted fast so we didnt have any huge puddles. Our main roads are usually clear and dry by the day after a snow storm, its the little local roads that can be a beast so most people are able to drive to work after the state of emergency is lifted, but sometimes companies will delay opening for 2 or so hours so they can make sure all of their surfaces are clear.

mind the snow. I honestly tolerate it much easier than hot, humid, summer weather.

I live within short walking distance of a train station, and I find it faster to take the train during inclement weather. Also, I find taking the train and buses makes it much easier for me to reduce my carbon ommissions to the environment, so it's a plus all around.

I think being overly prepared is the key to dealing with the cold, snowy, icy winter. A snow blower helps a lot, and lots of shovels. I also put down a pet-safe alternative to salt or sand. I also make sure to snowblow and shovel for all of my elderly neighbors, and check in on them a lot to make sure they are okay. I also offer to do errands and grocery shopping for my elderly neighbors in the winter. I started doing this as a kid as an example from my Mother, and it makes me feel great to help someone else.

I also live within walking distance of the fitness center, grocery, and other stores, so the winter is tolerable. I need to get more exercise in the winter since It helps keeps my mood better.

I like the winter a lot more since I have the Bulldogs. They derive so much joy from the snow, that it makes me happy to see them so overjoyed.

if you can't drive in snow...you can't drive. Both myself and a friend of mine had to take our driver's tests in blizzards. I will say though I only know of ONE Nascar driver from my state, so I don't know if it's worse being a Nascar driver, or a stunt driver...or whether driving in snow is worse. And actually...snow isn't bad...ICE is the problem!

I was born and raised in Cleveland but I've been on the West Coast for 43 years and "my blood has thinned out" as they say. I have memories of snow and ice, shoveling and drifts, slippery roads and downed power lines...but not anything recent. Here we are only concerned with mud slides that occur with the few months of winter rains following a ground-clearing fire. And it has been raining in San Diego for the past few days, causing a minor bit of cabin fever, tho we do go out in it, it interferes with our golfing! Now that is serious!! LOL

Take care, everyone.

"shipping and handling"