Singin' in the Rain

I know it rained all over the Southeast for pretty much the entire fall. Okay, and half the summer. I was absolutely sick of it by the beginning of November. It seemed like everything was drowning. What had never occurred to me was that water in liquid form, while obnoxious to walk through, drains neatly away in all those street drains. Water in frozen form does not. I started to miss all the dreary brown. The solid white was a beautiful change for the first few days (at least when we weren't driving), but I missed seeing ground. Seeing where I was aiming my car. Seeing where I was about to step. Four days ago, the temperature warmed up to the 40s and the rain started. For two wonderful days, it just kept on raining and melting away the snow. I loved it. This is what I saw...

What is that? It isn't white...I barely recognize it...could that be the actual ground? Oh, but not just any old ground. What color is that? Green?

Ah, yes. Under all the snow, in -16 degree temperatures, grass was miraculously alive. I can barely comprehend this. Grass. I don't get this place. Mom and Dad's yard is brown all winter and all it has to deal with is the occasional dip below the freezing mark. (I know, Dad. It has to do with the kind of grass. Don't get on my case here. You're missing the point.)

I enjoyed the beautiful green view while it lasted though. By this morning, this is the sight that greeted me.

The snow was back :-( And back with a vengeance. Just look at this blowing action.

That snow just kept drifting off the roof in huge puffs. I'm glad I didn't have to go out today. I sweet-talked Nathan into getting the groceries :-D I so love my husband.

New home! Or at least apartment...

I finally resolved all of my picture issues. I found my cable to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer. I found a free picture-editing program. I have downloaded pictures. So here we go...

We finally made it out of Erie, PA. They reopened I-90, although I don't know if I would go so far as to call it safe. This is what we got into by the PA state line...

Now, I know some of you have experience with this whole Northern/snow-living thing. I don't. Mom had the good sense to NEVER take us very far north during the winter. I like the way she thinks. Nathan and I got out of our vehicles, looked at each other and said, practically at the same time, "What on Earth were we thinking???" I told him I was in this mess because I was following him. I didn't know what he was doing there. But I digress.

Even through a snow storm, we made it to Watertown (that's NY for those of you who aren't keeping up), got the cats boarding at a vet clinic, and got checked into a motel.

After a week or so of looking around and finding out there were only two apartment complexes that were going to have anything available for the next month, we decided on one. It took another five days or so to get the lease signed and move in. Well, "move in" would be a better way to say it. We slept on an air mattress for the first few nights with a broken thermostat (very bad when it's 10 or colder outside). After that, things started looking up. We got all of our things from the movers and I haven't discovered anything missing yet. There was some minor damage to some things, but nothing I just can't handle.

And now for the good stuff... On one of our trips to look at apartments, we passed several dairy farms. At one farm, there is somebody with a really big tractor and a really big sense of humor. We found this...

If you're not exactly sure what that thing is, it's a snow man. Yes, a snow man. If you aren't exactly sure how tall it is, I walked up to it and Nathan took another one for you.

I'm guessing 20 feet tall. Those are tires for buttons. I think coal in large quantities has other uses 'round these parts. Like keeping people from freezing to death.

That's all for now. I'll write again soon (sooner than before, I promise. I got my picture problem solved, remember?) about the town and the crazy weather and whatever else happens.

But a 20-foot-tall snowman? Seriously? What kind of people live here anyway?

Erie, PA

We made it all the way from Jackson (TN) to Erie, PA today. I promised a blog entry, so you're getting one. The only problem is I learned that my computer having an SD card reader doesn't help me with my camera's SDHC card. Who knew? That means I can't upload my pictures of the mounds of snow outside that we had to drive through to get to the hotel. I was also going to include a picture of the MapQuest illustration of how far, exactly, the trip was today. Unfortunately, my computer is also currently sans Office, therefore no program to use to edit said picture. As soon as I find a place to live, though, I'll fix my computer and/or get a card reader that can handle my SDHC card and you will get to see what's going on. That's always more fun than listening to me ramble anyway.

Long story short, we hit lake effect snow 20 minutes from Erie and I lost sight of the road. I just had to follow Nathan, and he had to follow the car in front of him. I slid on some ice, narrowly missing Nathan's truck at a traffic light. We got a hotel room, snuck the cats in, and refused to try and drive again till they clear the roads. Side note - Applebee's delivery wasn't half bad. They brought it straight to our room door. I'll let you know if we decide to brave the snow tomorrow and continue driving. If it's bad, we might just live it up in our awesome suite with jacuzzi tub :-)