It's really hard for me to imagine what it is like to live for 33 days without getting
above zero once, Del. Could you tell me about it, like how you felt and did it look
beautiful and white and surreal outside, and what did you do for all that time?? I don't
have much experience of snow.>>
During that cold snap it snowed about three inches every day, but the wind kept whipping it into drifts that turned very hard, right across my 200 ft. driveway. It took about an hour every morning to get my car out. Then there were dead batteries to take care of, my well pipes froze that were several feet deep, leaving us without water, and other hardships that I have forgotten. It actually hurt to breathe the air it was so cold. When I came in, my mustache was full of hoarfost, and my nostrils stung from frostbite.
The snow wasn't pretty on the trees or anything. That happens when it is about 30 outside and big flakes fall without much wind. The fierce winds blew the trees clean and piled the snow usually right where you didn't want it.
There was a certain amount of comraderie with your neighbors, with the feeling that "dammit, we can make it through this". Then my feelings turned to "dammit, I'm moving South". Like I said before, I think I overshot a bit too far.
I often think of roughing it in the mountains, and living off of the land, but it would be nice to have a Taco Bell within walking distance, a GPS, ISDN line for web surfing, cell phone just in case I want to order a pizza....
Hey, speaking of methane, did you know that you can collect your garbage and human wastes in a 55 gallon drum, attach an inner tube to one of the fittings to trap the gas, and use that gas for your cooking? Why don't you give that a try and give me a report?
Del |
