Little did I realize when I made my last post, that it was only the first of a long line of snowstorms. I was looking at the pictures on that post last night, and thinking, boy, those snow banks look low.

It really has been a winter of discontent. Generally, I look forward to the snow, because I like to cross country ski, but this year, between the cold, and the timing of storms, I’ve scarcely gone. In past winters, I’ve tried to get over to the ski track three times a week, but  I’ve been spending a lot of my weekend time clearing snow, or being stuck in the house due to storms. And it’s been cold. I did take a skate ski lesson the week after the first storm, and I remember the wind whipping the light fluff off the hard pack of the trails.

I am definitely unhappy with the roofer who replaced our roof last June. We have had all manner of leaks over the past four weeks. After the snow last Thursday, the water was just weeping through the dining room ceiling, and I spent a fair amount of time on top of the porch roof clearing snow off the main house roof and the flat porch roof. One consolation was that the view was great.

The Garage from the Porch roof. Note the top of the post light just peeking out from the snow bank by the garage.

From the  roof, I could also see that some animal had been making tracks toward the neighbor’s back yard:

The snowbank of snow that we’ve pushed off the porch roof was nearly as high as the roof itself then.

Last Saturday, my nephew and I spent the morning breaking up ice dams and chipping out gutters. That afternoon, too sore to go skiing, I was reading, and heard “drip…drip… drip…” coming from under the eaves.

I’ve gotten into the habit of backing into the driveway, both to favor the driver’s side (since there isn’t enough width to get by on both sides) and to have a better view while trying to nose out in the morning.

I did finally get out for a nice long cross country ski last Sunday. I rented a pair of touring skis and did about 5 miles of the trails over at the Weston Ski Track. The conditions were great, and it wasn’t bitterly cold.  It was one of the best days in a long time.