Snowed In!

Sitting here drinking my tea this morning as the sun is just starting to brighten the horizon I'm remembering that first winter and the difficulties we faced. We have had such an unusually warm winter this year that it is almost impossible to remember that bitter cold of our first winter here. I am so thankful that we were prepared to deal with the cold that year even though we had a few difficulties.

Preparation: It is so key when living like this.There are many I suppose who would call us "preppers" or "survivalists" but we are neither. We are not waiting for the world to implode, or the "Zombie Apocalypse" but we do believe in being prepared for life, and life has a way of being slightly unpredictable. In realizing this I am just being practical. I have seen and heard of natural disasters all over the world as I'm sure you have and wondered how the people were faring until help could get too them. In taking that into account as well the fact that we live pretty much in the middle of nowhere by most peoples standards it is only smart to be prepared. At any rate now I can grow a garden and can, dry or freeze much of our own food so we can always be prepared for what happened that first winter, just in case it were to happen again.

The winter was progressing just fine and despite the cold we were completing many projects. When it started to snow those big fluffy flakes one afternoon I didn't think much of it, except for how pretty it looked. It wasn't until the next morning that we realized how much snow we had accumulated over night. While I don't know the exact amount I can tell you it was a huge chore getting our storm door open as it opened to the outside and that the snow came up to the bottom of the windows in the living room.

Our world had turned white. How beautiful it is after a snow storm when there is not a track to be seen and everything is covered completely. The world looks pristine and new. We weren't too worried. We didn't have a tractor but we had great neighbors, not too far away, who would plow us out in return for a favor or two. I love the barter system! Our internet at that time was very spotty and would often go down for days, which of course would tend to happen at the most inopportune times. Wouldn't you know it, it was down so we couldn't call out. Oh well...  We were snug and happy.

The days passed and eventually Mountain Man made the trek to the main road to see what was going on. Our driveway is about a 1/4 mile long so it was a bit of a hike in the deep snow. The main gravel road wasn't even plowed! It wasn't until over a week later when they were finally able to plow the main road and another week still before one of the neighbors was able to plow us out. We were snowed in for two weeks but other than being short of a few building materials we wanted for nothing.

Who knows when something similar will happen again? I don't, but I know I will always be prepared just in case. For us, it is just a way of life. What would you do if something "snowed" you in?