Here we go! Dusting off this old blog to start something new. I'm not sure how this will go but needed a starting place.
I'm not sure we had a snowstorm like this since The Blizzard of 2009. And even with that storm, I am not sure it affected the entire county. As of yesterday, every highway in our county is closed. We have no access to the largest town, Wahoo, and Wahoo has no access to nearby cities, Lincoln and Omaha. I'd have liked our cupboards and frig to be a little more stocked, but we won't starve.
From Monday into Tuesday, we got about 7" of super wet snow. John was able to get the driveway cleaned and get fresh round bales to the cows and horses as the forecast predicted the worst was yet to come. If you follow this blog, you might remember I refer to the weather forecasters as The Big Fat Lying Weatherman because for years, weather-mongering is the status quo and it never amounts to what the village crier predicted. Theory, however, will sometimes fall apart when the weather predicted is going to be especially nasty. They NEVER get that wrong, it seems. We were expecting more snow on Thursday, with temps dipping into single digits. Wind was going to bear down on us with those nasty wind chill temps dipping from -20 to -50 degrees through the upcoming weekend.
Like I said - they never get that wrong.
Rewind to last Wednesday, before the first 6" of wet snow, I started getting a cold. Nothing one wouldn't expect in the winter. A dry cough and scratchy throat. No fever, no congestion. Just run of the mill cold that I fully expected to kick over the weekend. Well, that didn't happen. Had a low fever over the weekend and kind of felt crappy overall. I figured I most likely had Covid. My first run with it 3 years ago was pretty mild, so I had nothing other than that to compare it with and this ticked off most of the symptoms. By Wednesday, almost a week from first symptoms and 2 days after the first snow storm, I decided I should probably go to the doctor. I just had no energy and felt like I wasn't getting any oxygen. John and Case were working and while the driveway and roads were clear of drifts, I knew my rear-wheel drive BMW would not make it on snow packed roads. My truck was attached to my trailer and under 6" of snow.
I don't know where I mustered up the strength but did manage to get it unhooked and the snow off the hood and windshield and made it to the doctor's office. And even managed to make a video about my upcoming trip. More on that later.
I spent more time waiting for the doctor than actually with the doctor. Vitals told the story. Temp normal but my O2 level was at 92%. He listened to the rattle in my lungs. Back at home, I settled back into my recliner with an inhaler and cough syrup near by, waiting for the Z pack to start to work. It's Saturday today, and while no where near 100%, I am back among the living.
The second storm rolled in on Thursday with about another 6 or so inches. With the winds, it's hard to tell, but it was a lot on top of what was already there. Drifts started filling our driveway back up again. For the first time that I remember, county snow plows were called back to their barns and the roads in our county were closed and still remain closed. We haven't had mail service for two days.
On the homefront, our electric waterer for the cows and horses froze up. John had to get out a regular tank and heater and rig up access for both the pens of livestock. I will usually blanket the horses when this comes in, but I didn't have enough energy to do laundry, let alone gear up for a walk to the barn through five foot drifts. The horses all found their places, either behind trees or in the barn. As I am writing this, they are standing with their butts to the big blue spruce tree with the sun shining on their snow covered backs. It's not a perfect situation, but all is well.
