The snow has stopped falling

Well, our winter storm is over. It lasted for a couple of days and brought from 17 to 27 cm of snow, depending where in Manitoba one lived. Of course, when you’re out there blowing the snow it seem like a meter has fallen. I am a retiree, which means I don’t really have to go anywhere when the weather is bad, but I had a dentist appointment on Thursday, in the morning, so I was forced to brave the extreme weather.

The worst of the storm was Wednesday. We were supposed to go to our grandson’s Christmas concert, but we didn’t go. According to the highway reports, there were vehicles in the ditches, roads were snow-covered and visibility low. Driving in the dark under such conditions is not a good idea. So we missed the concert. We had been looking forward to it, because our grandson was playing the clarinet. For the first time in a concert. We hadn’t heard him play yet.

Anyway, Thursday morning it wasn’t snowing anymore, but they hadn’t done the streets yet. I got my snow blower out and cleaned a path to the street. I even cleaned the street a bit so I could straighten out the car. Then I left. I followed tracks made by somebody who had driven before me, but it was still hair-raising until I got to the highway. A few times I thought I might get stuck in the snow, but I made it. On the highway between Lockport and Selkirk was a car in the ditch, already buried a bit under a thin blanket of snow. I figured whoever drove it, must have slid off the road already the evening before. I was glad we never ventured out then.

I was hoping by the time I came home, they’d have cleaned the street, but my hopes were dashed when I turned off the highway onto our street. The snow was still there. Sure, there were tracks also, but they had blown over a bit. When I finally drove into my garage, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then I got out my snow blower and did the rest of the driveway. I was almost finished when the machine broke down. It still ran but didn’t blow any snow. So I finished the rest with a push shovel. When I opened the snow blower to check what the problem was, I discovered one of the belts in total shreds. I bought a new one and installed it today. The belt cost $24.00. Nothing is cheap anymore.

It is cold today. Minus 24 C right now (It’s 4:28 p.m.) The forecast for tonight is minus 30 C and it is supposed to stay cold like this for the rest of next week. I’m freezing just writing this down.

Yesterday, while shopping at Canadian Tire, they had a charity drive for a food hamper. If you donated $5.00 you got 3 tickets to win a Keurig Coffee maker. Well, guess what? We won the Coffee maker. It sells for $79.00 at Walmart. So Heidi was happy. She always wanted one.

Maybe now I’ll get away with not buying her anything for Christmas. I don’t know if this win counts as a present from me to her, because I filled out the tickets, so, technically, I won the prize. In the Spring of this year, at a raffle in our hunting club, I won a Black and Decker workbench. I already have one, so I gave it to my son for Father’s Day. I thought it was a nice present. Those things aren’t cheap. My granddaughter didn’t share my opinion, because she said, “That’s not really a present, Opa, because you won it.” So I told her, “I could have sold it for $25.00.”

But I know my son appreciated it. He didn’t have one before and he did want one. Those portable workbenches are great and quite practical. I know, because I’ve used mine a lot, especially when I was still in the workforce.

On another note, our friend is coming home from the hospital. They did some tests and discovered it wasn’t a tumor but cancer. We don’t know if that is better news.  He’ll be going for chemo. We hope it works.