RAPUNZELED...AGAIN

The snowy driveway...at the bottom where it isn't steep.

Honestly...I don't know about this weather.  We have had this place on the ridge for 14 years, and we visited it regularly (until we moved here) in all seasons.  Never, never, never, have I seen weather like these last two winters.  We, only one time, were unable to get up the drive.  We were snowed in for four days once over the Christmas holidays, and my sister and her friend Abby were snowed in once.  But, OMG, what a change the last two winters.

You have, of course read the saga of last year, but this one has started similarly.  Geez.  It snowed Saturday night.  Adam was here and when he left on Sunday there were about 3 inches on the ground.  By Monday morning there were seven.  JR and I went down the mountain to buy chains for the truck, but since the snow was soft and wet, he didn't need them to get back up.  Then he left.  It was very cold and I didn't try to get out, though I did move my car into the sun so some of the white precipitation would excuse itself.

The drive going down...I slipped all down this area.

Expecting icy conditions today, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the temperature had risen during the night and that instead of ice, we had rain.  The temperature stayed well above freezing during the morning and about noon I decided to brave the elements and head to town.  The snow was slushy, there was no ice, and I figured that I could just get into 4-wheel drive and take myself down the mountain.  WRONG!!!

I slid down the hill, only managing to stop myself before running off into the woods.  Luckily, I remembered how to turn the wheel during a skid.  I could have chosen wrong, you know. I stopped the car, put on the brake, got out, walked back to the house, canceled two appointments set for tomorrow, and called JR to tell him that when he comes home, he'll have to walk part of the way.  Not sure how I'm going to handle this winter stuff.  My doctor suggested that I get some exercise with snowshoes. Maybe I'll park my car at the bottom of the hill and snowshoe down, dragging my belongings up and down in a sled!  Can you imagine?  The other option is to be sure I always have what I need, so I don't have to go out!

However, the silver lining is that the snow is pretty and we will probably have a white Christmas!  One of the benefits of snow is that it decorated our wreaths. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!