You may recall that I wondered where all our snow was, given the dire predictions of at least ten inches of the stuff late last week. For a time I thought it had been misdirected to the north of England, but in due course it was delivered to Torch Lake Township, just in time to make it difficult to go to the day job and the other day job, not to mention the stores where treats are sold.
This morning as I walked through fluffy heaps of white with Miss Sadie and the Cowboy I gave passing thought to how I was going to get out and about on my rounds. Then we heard a great clanking and banging of large metal blades, a groaning and chugging of an engine, and saw-yes!-the blessed orange truck of the Antrim County Road Commission. We stepped reverently to the side of the road. Actually, we hustled right up the Remund’s driveway to get out of the way. The orange truck came.
The orange truck went.
And behind it, the orange truck left a passable road. Oh bliss, oh joy! No snow day for us!
No mail or Record-Eagle for us, either, unless we clear some space by the mailbox. But Dale Reedy will have a swipe at that while he’s here plowing the driveway, and by the time Dee Grammer trundles through with the mail she’ll be able to open the box and deposit valuable communications. On Tuesday morning Dean Peters will be able to reach the green tube where the newspaper belongs, and all will be right with the world. Lovely orange truck.
Torch Lake Views 
Leslie
January 5, 2010
Goodness me look at all this snow!
Gerry
January 5, 2010
Smart aleck. I’ll bet you’re sitting there fanning yourself and thinking about going to the beach. That’s OK, we’ll swap places in a few months. (Note to newcomers to these pages: Leslie writes from Australia, where things are unaccountably upside down and also take place tomorrow. Or maybe yesterday, I’m unreliable as to the details.)
Cindy Lou
January 5, 2010
We do like our orange trucks here in the frozen north, don’t we? 🙂
Gerry
January 5, 2010
Yes. And we hope one will come back today with lots of sand, as the road is a skating rink.
Fee
January 5, 2010
Oooh, orange trucks. Ours are a dingy yellow, but are keeping the roads clear so far (although the rumours about “running out of grit” are everywhere at the moment).
Gerry
January 5, 2010
Blessed dingy yellow trucks! I hope you run out of ice before you run out of grit.
p.j. grath
January 5, 2010
We of the long, long driveways bless our private plow trucks, too. They came again this morning! We can get out again today!
Gerry
January 5, 2010
Blessed Plow Guys! And blessed Tom Morrison, too, as he cleared my steps. Between the propane bill, the plowing, and the step clearing, I am supporting a good portion of the economy this month. It’s real incentive to make my way to the other day job this afternoon.
Carsten
January 5, 2010
I’m not sure that I should say: “Congratulations, you finally got the snow” 🙂
We will have frost, snow and wind here for the next days. Brrrr.
It reflects so much light. I prefer this from dark mornings and afternoons.
Gerry
January 5, 2010
You’re absolutely right – the reflected light is a big improvement over the velvet dark of a snowless December. Won’t it be nice to see some sunshine on the snow, though! Might have to wait until later in the month for that . . .
Anna Surface
January 6, 2010
LOL “Lovely orange truck.”
The roar of the plow truck along with the sound of the scraping plow is a welcome sound here. Many mailboxes, indeed, have been snowed in. The ones not dug out have crusted ice snow and impossible to access. More snow and gusty winds with below zero temps forecast for today. Yikes!
One good thing, we are gaining more light each day in the Northern Hemisphere. This has been a whooper of a winter so far!
By the way, I have a snow plow photo not posted yet. LOL Bless those snow plows and the ones who operated them. 🙂
Gerry
January 6, 2010
Every now and then a plow blade has been known to take out a snowed-over mailbox. People out on the highway resort to leaning plywood panels against their mailboxes to keep them intact. By the end of a long, hard winter mailboxes and plywood can be scattered all over the place. It’s a little game we play in the north country.
flandrumhill
January 6, 2010
We have what’s known as a ‘super mailbox’ around the corner which holds a couple dozen individual boxes. The postman will shovel it out when he makes his deliveries. Sometimes if there’s a package, he’ll dare to drive up our slippery driveway to make his delivery and share a chat. Though he obviously carries a shovel in the winter, I don’t think he’d shovel the driveway if it wasn’t cleared by the time he made his deliveries. He’d probably just check again the next day. Thankfully, the postman always brings twice 😉
Gerry
January 6, 2010
You have an exceptionally fine postman, and I hope he gets lots of cookies during the winter. At least the plows are likely to give a whole bank of mailboxes a wide berth.
Fee
January 7, 2010
Pity the poor posties over here, then. There are no mailboxes. Everything has to be delivered through a door – just ask my brother in law. He’s been out in a foot of snow in his little red Royal Mail van, when even the buses aren’t running!
Gerry
January 7, 2010
I would adore to see the little red Royal Mail van. The only service here that agrees to deliver to the door everywhere is The UPS Man (who is certainly just as likely to be a woman but we are prisoners of our preconceptions). I have come home and climbed my 22 steps to find a package there, nestled against the door. I’ve often thought if I were a kind person I’d put a sturdy receptacle at the bottom of the steps. But then I’d have to lug the package up myself . . .
Elva Cowell
January 8, 2010
Interesting to see all the snow you have – I’m missing the fun. It has been pretty chilly in Florida the past few days but doesn’t bother the Snowbirds. I chuckled when I read the paper yesterday to learn what I had to do. Maybe this will help you people-This was published
TIPS FOR STAYING WARM DURING THE COLD SNAP —
Dress in layers. the more the better
Start light and go heavy -T-shirt-shirt-sweater
Silk is great at keeping you warm.
Going to work up a sweat- cotton is not the best first layer because it will hold onto the sweat.
Cover your head, even if it doesn’t feel cold. Your body sends heat there to protect your BRAIN. When that heat gets there, keep it there.
Now is not the time for open-toe shoes.
A scarf isn’t just a fashion statement, it fills the space between the coat collar and the hat you should wear.
Turtleneck sweaters and raised collars also suit this purpose.
Thanks to the Palm Beach Post
Gerry
January 8, 2010
Hello, Elva! Yesterday’s Record-Eagle ran an AP photo of icicles hanging off the orange trees in Lakeland–on the front page of course. In color. I think it was supposed to make us feel better about our own icicles, but all it did was make me feel sorry for the growers.
It was instructive to read the tips offered by the Palm Beach Post. Clearly the editors do not contemplate a true, industrial strength, Up North winter. The layers end at “sweater.” (My layer ends at down and plenty of it.) There is no mention of YakTrax. And what about mittens? Nope. Just not serious about winter down there.
Hope you are having a lovely time with the other migratory birds.