We got our first real taste of New Paltz winters when a foot of snow, ice, and sleet greeted us for Valentine's Day. Not only was school canceled, but Trailways Bus service was, too, so I had to reschedule my work in Manhattan. Forced to stay home, I went sledding with the kids, took a careful drive to check out Main Street, answered the only fire call of the day (false alarm) and ended up shoveling a lot of snow. In all, a great day.
The day started out iffy. Shirra is battling a cold, so she needed to rest this morning (meaning: I didn't get to). So I was up with the excited kids, who all wanted to hit the hill before breakfast. Adorned in their winter finery, they were soon zooming down the slope behind the house. Sledding was the only outdoor option, really; the snow/ice/sleet mixture wasn't sticking, so snowballs, snowmen, and snow forts must await.
Soon the mood picked up when Shirra, who had roused herself enough to call the school hotline, announced that the kids would be staying home all day. After sledding, the kids had hot cocoa and changed out of wet clothes. By lunchtime, Maeve was ready for a nap, and so was Shirra. I went outside with the big kids (their second trip) for a few rides down the hill, and just as I was heading for the car, a fire call came in.
I managed to make it down the hill to our private road, which was being plowed at that moment, and from there to 32N, which was also being plowed at that moment. The plowings meant that my trip was safer, but it was also slower. By the time I arrived at the station, the guys were returning from what proved to be a false alarm. No other calls came in on the day, surprising given the fact that the roads are pretty slick and that people often drive poorly (too fast, too close together) for the conditions. I hung around the firehouse, shot some pool there, and started to watch a video on car extractions when I got a call from Fiona: She'd just heard on her little transistor radio that the snow was getting worse and that all drivers were being told to get off the roads.
After a quick trip to the gas station for a replacement windshield wiper (I'd broken one earlier while removing snow from the window), I made it to the bank and to True Value hardware (for fire extinguishers -- we didn't have any) and headed home. This time, it was clear that the roads were more treacherous even tho I'd only been gone two hours. In fact, although a local guy had plowed our private road, his work was totally invisible by the time I got back, forcing me to park the car at the end of the drive and walk home from there -- just over 4/10 of a mile. I grabbed the fire extinguishers and decided to take my mountain unicycle, too, just in case I hit a few ridable patches. There were two. I managed a couple rides over 100 feet, but that was it. This photo shows the trail I made after my longest run.
As I headed into the house, I passed by the kids, out sledding for their 4th time of the day. Maeve stayed out just a bit too long, thawing her frozen ankles just enough to experience excruciating pain for only the 2nd time in her life (the first was when she split her chin). I raced outside, scooped her up, and warmed her by putting her little feet inside of my legs. A hot pack helped, too, as did a lot of blankets. She's a toughy, and within a few minutes, she was singing along with the Upside Down show and having a blast. Emmett joined us, warming his tootsies on me, too. A few minutes later, Fiona sat down on my other side. Contendedly relaxed, I fell asleep, basking in the love of my three angelic children on Valentine's Day.
And maybe tomorrow the roads won't keep the FedEx man from delivering those movies from Amazon!
No comments:
Post a Comment