Nor'easter Blizzard

We are on the tail end of that huge Nor'easter that began in CA,leaving mudslides and flooding behind,to here in New England,where it is dumping snow with blizzard conditions. Right now the snowflakes are small,but the wind is still howling. We are in the 14"-20" swatch,but because the wind is creating bare patches in one area and snow drifts in others,it's hard to tell. It doesn't look like we got a foot,but one never knows. Some areas will get up to a foot today,as the snow bands continue to lull then come back until this afternoon.

Last night the storm began as light snow around 6:00 PM,and then conditions deteriorated rapidly-by 7:00 PM the wind was quite strong and the snow became heavy. Looking out the window one could see the snow blowing so thickly that I could barely see the Christmas lights on the trees at the alpaca farm right down the street. I opened the window and I could feel the snow hit my face,as well as hear the snow hitting the house and landing on the ground.I thought it was amazing how loud snow could be.At first I thought it was freezing rain-that's how loud it was.

By the time I went to bed at 11:00 PM,the wind was quite a formidable force. When I laid down,I listened to it ,thinking about Laura Ingalls Wilder's description of blizzard winds in The Long Winter. The wind was loud,and as I listened to it,I was reminded of the sound the ocean makes when huge waves roll in,without the crashing sound. I could hear an occasional howl as the wind whipped around the corner of the bedroom wall. If we did not have trees,and had an open space such as they did in The Long Winter,I know that I would've heard the same loud shrieking and howling that Laura did. There would be nothing to break  up the wind. As it was,the wind woke me up several times during the night,and I was very glad that I had such a snug little home. I couldn't imagine being in a shanty,which not a very weatherproof home,during a blizzard. Or having to be shoveled off  in the morning because the snow was driven through the cracks in the boards,covering me in the bed with a pile of snow. Imagine the only thing to listen to being the sound of a blizzard wind-no electricity,which means no video games,no TV,no radio,no Ipod. You can't go outside for very long,or go very far,for fear that a blizzard will come up.You are a prisoner in your own home,waiting for Spring to come. I'm surprised that people didn't completely lose their minds in that horrible winter.

As for us,the snow is suppose to stop by sometime this afternoon,but the wind is going to continue through tomorrow. We are going nowhere,and are quite content in our warm little cottage.