Not living in the lake-effects part of the country, we dodged the early Big Snow bullet that just hit Buffalo. (Condolences to you folks.)
But
living in the hilly northeast snow belt, we hear the clock ticking loudly as
more days than not bring precipitation, with temps that more often than not
fail to rise above freezing. Already we’ve had sleet, snow, freezing rain, and
wet rain. The ground, though currently bare, is frozen solid. The pond has iced
over. Any day now will be the last day we can do anything outside.
By
“anything” I mean chores, which at this time of year means covering up and/or
repositioning and/or putting away. It’s always a race against the calendar
while frantically prioritizing a long list.
We
did get twelve-plus cords of firewood
stacked and covered, though owing to communication problems over the summer it
all arrived late, and much is still so green we’ll be making more smoke than
heat for months.
We
didn’t buck, split, and stack the
four big maples that came down on their own last year—they still lie where they
fell—but did split and stack
two-thirds of the massive white pine that a neighbor blocked and delivered, and
got the rest of the chunks rolled onto pallets and de-barked. They will be
great firewood next year.
We
did get the garden and planters
cleared, and the garlic planted and mulched; but didn’t keep up with the strawberry bed over the summer so it is
hopelessly grassed over. We decided to disassemble it and restore lawn in its
place, but didn’t get to that so have to wait until spring.
We
did get the deck cleared (furniture,
grill, rain barrels), which is necessary because those items are targets for
the winter roof dump. We didn’t get
the roof fixed, or the deck itself torn down, both of which are nearing
critical condition and will rise to the top of next year’s priority list.
(But
we did get the guys installing
underground fiber-optic to pile, in a convenient spot, all the boulders they
had to remove from the road in order to bury the cable. So when the deck does
come down, we’ll have the raw materials on hand to replace it with a terrace.)
And
while we did get the project and
service vehicles secured where they need to be, we didn’t put away any ladders, so they may end up frozen in place
until spring.
We
did dig out half the out-of-control
perennial bed, finding new homes for almost all the plants, but didn’t get the remaining soil relocated
to where it needs to go for next year.
We
didn’t get snow tires on my car yet,
but did get them on the truck—just in
time. Both vehicles need heavy service so it’s a coin toss as to what gets done
first, on which, and when.
Et
cetera.
It
doesn’t help to be losing daylight at an accelerating rate. Which leads to another annual ritual: the countdown to solstice. Only 27 more days until the cycle
reverses and days start getting longer.
Tick,
tick, tick . . . meanwhile, the mad scramble to get hatches battened down, and
everything tucked in.
