Snow, snow, go away!

After months of my life being dominated by snow, it finally feels like that is coming to an end. It is sunny, and the snow is melting. This morning, it snowed, but not so much. This thawing started a couple of weeks ago, but with temperatures only barely above freezing during the day (if at all), it's been a slow process. It's thawed a bit during the day, but then it freezes again at night. The bare spot in the backyard which has been about 2 square meters for the last couple of weeks, has suddenly doubled in size and been joined by some smaller spots. Otherwise, the fields are still covered in snow.

The fields have been covered with snow all year. It started snowing in December, which is pretty normal. Then it started melting around Christmas, which is also normal, so the snow coverage got down to about 50% around here. And then it started snowing again, and it's been snow covered ever since. This is really hard on the wildlife, and while it certainly is beautiful, everybody is long since tired of it. My daughter, who's so fond of playing in snow, is sick of it. Even my husband finally admitted yesterday that he'd had enough.

For me, the worst part about the snow was trying to drive in it. BMW's have the reputation of being bad in the winter, and while I've had this car since 2006, I'd never had any winter related problems until this year. This year, I've been stuck in the snow 4 times. The first time was on February 2 as I drove home from my daughter's soccer practice. The dirt road has an uphill S-curve that can be a bit tricky. It had only been snowing for a couple of hours at the time, but it was snowing hard and windy too. The loose snow was too deep, and my car rode up on it then slid sideways into a drift. I called our neighbor, the farmer who's in charge of plowing this road, and he set out with the tractor to rescue me. In the meanwhile, two guys from the home health-care service came behind me. I was blocking the road, so they took their shovels and attempted to dig and push me out, but to no avail. Then someone came from the other direction and blocked the tractor. A spot was plowed for this car to pull over, then the tractor came and pulled me loose. We backed my car down the hill, the tractor plowed the hill, then with a running start I was just barely able to follow the tractor as it plowed a path for me all the way home.

A few days later, when it was time for me to pick my daughter up from a play date, I got stuck on a drift again. Again, I blocked traffic from both directions, but the only other vehicles out and about were 4 wheel drive. Again, I called my neighbor, and even though I wasn't on the road that was his responsibility, he came and pulled me out. At the same time, another snow plow came from the other direction, so I was able to make it to my destination and home again, but the whole time I feared getting stuck.

Every time I left the house, I feared getting stuck. Even if the roads were plowed, and the snow wasn't blowing around, I was still managed to get stuck. A parking lot with 6 inches (15 cm) of loose snow was enough to do it. I had to be pushed out of my spot.

The fourth time I got stuck, I was miles from home, and there was no tractor available. As usual, I was blocking the road for someone else. He couldn't figure out why I was stuck, but he called three of his friends, and with them pushing, he was able to get me unstuck. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers.

Besides being thoroughly embarrassing, this has totally shaken my confidence. Not only do I lack the skills for driving in snow, but I lack the judgment to know when not to try. I resorted to calling my neighbor and asking him about road conditions before venturing out. I've also been collecting advice on driving techniques (not all contradictory). My husband's idea of a solution is to buy me a proper winter car before next year (something like a Jeep Grand Cherokee) and I'm inclined to agree.

Besides my frustrations driving in the snow, I've also come to the conclusion not to do Konstrundan (the Easter art show) this year. Even if the snow were to melt by Easter, it would still be a terrible mud hole here. The dirt road is so muddy that people would probably get stuck. While I generally look forward to Konstrundan, it's a relief this time not to have to do it.

I've spent too long writing this, and it's snowed again, about 3 inches/7 cm. The bare spots in the yard are gone. Spring is coming, but when?