View Juno the Blizzard slide show here:
http://youtu.be/x94hXD8UADg
Juno, the Back Story
What is it about being in the middle of a howling blizzard and turning on the television to watch the news about the howling blizzard? I guess we just wanted to see what other people were seeing about us. We were receiving emails and calls from Western Massachusetts to as far away as France, including California, Maryland, Virginia and Oregon. It turned into a pretty busy 24 hours, but I did my best to reassure folks that we were not underwater, and were safe. I doubt we beat a record, but I'm sure we were right up there with, not only the snowfall, an average of 2-3 feet with mega-drifts, but the winds that sculpted those drifts.
It all started out very gently Monday afternoon with delicate, blowing flurries, which had only laid down a light coating of white before dark. We had B&B guests from New Hampshire arrive at noon to help their daughter in Wellfleet, who was moving away. By 4:00 p.m., they were back to apologize about needing to turn around and go home. The moving truck had been postponed due to the storm, and the NH department of transportation had called him back to work.
By dinnertime, the winds had picked up and reached roaring crescendos by bedtime. We tucked in snugly and let them sing us to sleep. By morning, we were in a whiteout and I heard a breaker blow seconds before the power went out and the generator chugged itself on. With well water that needs electricity to work, this is exactly the situation that prompted us to invest in this luxurious convenience. Dutifully reporting our outage, we began receiving messages that the power company's main equipment that services Boston's South Shore and Cape Cod had been damaged by wind, and outages could last multiple days.
At that point, I knew we had to check on our elderly neighbor across the street, and Ron confirmed my suspicion that he had not gotten his generator set up outside beforehand and it wasn't going to happen during the blizzard, either. He and his friend were discussing how they could possible get to the shelter at the high school when we insisted that they sleep in the B&B Studio, which was now available. The problem was that all the cars were snowed in and the drifts in the street would have made them useless, anyway. So, short of carrying him, how was he going to get here? The toboggan in our garage, and a lot of muscle, was what ultimately got him to safe haven. Of course, by then it was dinnertime and we knew they hadn't been able to eat, so out came the wok and I basically stir-fried everything in the refrigerator and filled all the tummies. I dug out a couple pairs of flannel pants for them and encouraged them to make themselves at home in the Studio.
But, just as Ron was getting ready to relax from the toboggan adventure, we got a call from our neighbor who lives at the end of our road next to Fort Hill. She was snowed-in near Boston, and was concerned about her sister, who was not answering her phone at the house in Eastham. Now, most people know Ron as a laid-back Southern California dude, but what they may not know is that when there's a damsel in distress [or even a 'dude-sel'], he runs on pure adrenaline. So, he suited up again and made the .4 mile trek through the unplowed drifts in hurricane-force winds to check out the situation. She was more than a little surprised to have Yeti bang on the door, gasping that he had to drain the water pipes, blow out the candles and take her with him. Did I mention, they hadn't met before this? A quick call to her sister explained his appearance a little better, but she chose to rough out the storm there without power, and that just left the trek back home to negotiate.
Now, we were ready for some serious rest and relaxation. By morning, all our good karma was returned in the form of an NSTAR power truck restoring electricity to our neighborhood. But, we still had to engineer a better way to get our neighbor back to his home. Ron found that the John Deere tractor plow, which has been mounted up and ready since November, was outmatched. Plan B failed when we were unable to find anyone with a plow who wasn't already up to their wheel wells and tired of digging out. So, Plan C became people power. Can't say enough about the tenacity and good will of both our year-round tenants, who grabbed shovels and joined Ron clearing a path from our back door, down the driveway, across the street and to our neighbor's front door. I could almost hear the inspiring sound track to the movie that would chronicle our big adventure. The neighbors made it home. Cars were dug out. To quote a friend of ours, it was a real "walkin'. talk'in miracle". Giddy with the accomplishments, we set out for an exploratory journey to Stop and Shop, where we found a celebratory steak to grill. That's right, I said snow-grilling.
It's likely to be awhile before we see the ground again, especially with more snow predicted over the following week. I won't try to convince anyone who thinks snow is evil that they're not appreciating the beauty and excitement of a big storm. No, I wouldn't do that...but, I really think we've got enough good karma banked to get us through another, if need be.
Hope everyone's safe and comfortable. Now, on to February.
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