Snow, snow, and more snow

Erik finally got home from his two week speaking engagement in Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul on December 20. There were a lot of things to do and not much time to do them. One of the things we skipped this year was the Christmas tree. I was afraid my daughter would be crushed, but she took it quite well.

December has been all about the snow. On December 23, we had a full on blizzard. We heard that even major roads were closed not too far from here, but we have a 4 wheel drive jeep, and my husband was determined to get out. After the neighbor came by with the plow, we were able to make it to a friend's house to celebrate his 40th birthday. He had been prepared for a lot of guests, but we were pretty much the only ones who made it. That must have been so disappointing.

On the 24th we were to visit friends in Denmark. We budgeted an extra hour for driving time, but that was nowhere near enough. It took my husband 3.5 hours with the backhoe to dig 100 meters to the neighbor's mailbox. We then tried driving out but promptly got stuck about 1 car length beyond where he had dug. While he was pulling the car out of a drift with the backhoe, the neighbor came with his big loader and started digging out the road from the other end. The drifts were far too deep and heavy to plow, so he had to take the snow one scoop at a time. It took about half an hour before both my husband and neighbor got that last stretch of road cleared, but then we were off. The neighbor recommended which route was likely the clearest, and while the road was at best one lane wide, we made it the 20 km into town. From there, it was like there was no snow problem at all. The roads heading west were nearly clear. (East was another story entirely, but fortunately not our problem.)

We arrived three hours late, but our friends were understanding and happy to see us. The weather conditions in this part of Sweden had even made the news in Denmark. They had saved some home made rice porridge for our lunch. Yum! We played a board game before dinner. The kids chose Monopoly, so we put a time limit on it.

Dinner featured roast duck, caramelized potatoes, boiled potatoes, gravy, red cabbage (both mine and the kind from a jar that her husband likes), and the fruit that had been stuffed in the duck. I am a huge fan of Danish caramelized potatoes, but I've always found it a bit odd that potato chips are served as part of the holiday meal. Dessert was rice pudding with almonds and cherry sauce. As usual, amongst all the coarsely chopped almonds was one whole one. The person who got the whole almond got a special present.

After dinner, we sang Christmas carols and danced around the Christmas tree. I'm always impressed that our friends have real candles on the tree. This year, they had electric lights for the first time as well, but the electric lights were not used until after the dancing was over and the candles extinguished. Next we opened presents, and finally we ate the cookies that I'd brought (pecan butterballs, spritz cookies, peppermint meringues, caramel popcorn, and fudge) with coffee and tea.


On the 25th, we took it easy, played with our presents, and enjoyed each others company. I think this has become as important a tradition for us as the meal and the presents. We ate leftovers and soup. We went for a walk, we played Monopoly again, and we did a puzzle.


It was so nice to relax after all the holiday preparations and stress. We'd originally planned on going home in the evening, but after calling the neighbor to check on the road conditions, we decided to stay an extra night. We drove home on the morning of the 26th, and by then the neighbor had plowed so it was no problem. We were a little concerned about how the cats had handled being left alone, but they did just fine. The only damage was that Lina's gingerbread house was a bit nibbled.

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?