Thursday 22 February 2007

Pic of the day: The snowdrift confronts me through my living room window. A prepubescent child could sink through to over their head in those fluffy drifts. Luckily in this case, I don't have such a child. At least I can still get out the front door.

The blizzard continues

OK, it may not technically be a blizzard anymore. Less snow is falling and the air is less cold. It is still a biting wind and it is still snowing, though, and snow that has already fallen is being whirled up and moved around seemingly at random. By "seemingly at random" I mean that in the time it took me to clear the outside stairs of snow, the wind changed several times, blowing variously from west, north and east. Probably would have blown from south as well if the house hadn't stood there. The drifts at the sides of the stairs are around the same height as the stairs now, so I need to throw the snow that much further away to make it fall into a hole. But at least it is very light and fluffy.

The "interstate" E-18 is opened again, with some reservations. Cars, especially lorries, are checked for snow chains before they are allowed to drive there. Cars that arrive with the ferry from Denmark are similarly checked, and those not shod for the winter are returned. The people who were stuck in the snow have been rescued - with their cars - and allowed to return home, nearly a day delayed.

Cars that stood parked by the smaller roads are now snowed down and won't come free again for about two weeks. I know this not because of my foresight but because I write this more than two weeks later. Which is probably a good reason to not add more blather. I and everyone I know of is safe, and that's what counts, right? The center of the universe, safe for now. And getting free exercise.