Life With 14 Inches of Snow

The last few days of January the weather man began to predict a big snow blowing in on Monday night January 31st. Weathermen are better at predictions now days than they were 30 years ago. But I still hoped they were wrong. They were not. I worked Monday at the Call Center until 10:00 pm...came home and went to bed to wake up hearing sleeting rain on our windows....less than an inch. And then the snow began---it was heavy blowing snow that left huge drifts. By the time the snow ended on Tuesday, Tulsa had 14 inches -- a record. Surrounding communities had up to 20 inches. Jobs, doctor appointments, schools, churches,  the shopping malls, everything pretty much closed down. Even the snow plow trucks and emergency vehicles were getting stuck. We did not even try to get out for two days and I did not mind.

People reported that the grocery shelves were empty.  Kevin who works the night shift at WalMart reported people pouring into WalMart to stock up.  And when the night was done, over 100 shopping carts with groceries were left stranded in the store.  Apparently, people panicked that they could not get home with their groceries and abandoned them and left the store.  

Kevin's car made it half way home, stuck on Mingo--after several hours sitting in the car, he took out walking home in tennis shoes and  zero degree temperatures.  No one could come to help him.

Well, we were cozy, warm and so I began to cook.  First day I made tomato bisque as well as blueberry coffee cake.    We were running out of eggs.... normally we don't use a lot of eggs so I never thought about getting more.   The second day I made Banana/Apple/Nut bread and Split Pea Soup with Ham.    The third day I started on the Lemon Curd Thumb Print cookies.   Then I realized, we need to do more than eat when one is snowed in.
By Thursday, February 3rd, Ken snuck out and began to shovel snow from the driveway. This is something I totally had forbidden him to do. (I might insert that he was scheduled that very morning for a heart stress test but the lab of course was closed plus he could not get there.) Men with heart conditions die shoveling snow all the time. But Ken was getting cabin fever and did it without my noticing. smile. I did look out and at the curb saw someone shoveling our drive and began to call him to tell him.....no answer. He was at the other end working and a neighbor had come over to help. So they cleared a path just wide enough for the Honda to back out. With so much white outside, we still had warmth and color inside...our Christmas Poinsettia.

Once the drive was clear, Ken left to help Kevin get his car off of Mingo. On the news they were announcing that cars would be impounded and fined if they were in the way of clearing the roads. Ken went to WalMart and bought a pull chain, then picks up Kevin and Devin (Devin was gone with Momma) So once again, Ken begins to help Kevin dig his car out. Later more help arrived and after the car was dug out, a man in a pickup truck drove by and offered to pull the car out. Ken let him, gave him all the money he had in his pocket and all were very thankful. After Ken makes sure Kevin was safely home with his car, he sees another man shoveling his driveway. He stops and helps him finish. Can you believe that this almost 73 year old man of mine, scheduled for a heart stress test that very day, takes his stress test by shoveling two driveways that have 14 inches of snow on them plus dig out a buried car from the snow. I think he passed the test. This Nana was not too happy with him but he said he was careful, paced himself and did it the right way. And I am happy he succeeded.
When I decided that I could make it to the Call Center after all, Ken insisted on driving me there.  So he and the Babe were happy chauffeurs.

Ken found the carton's of 'Quick Eggs' at Braums -- the 90% egg whites.  So he was a happy man to have eggs and chorizo for breakfast on Friday morning.   But that still was not good enough.....a call came in that Reasor's had eggs.

So off to Reasor's just to find the 'eggs in a shell'.  Now we are fully stocked again and there can be big he-man breakfast for the Papa of the house.

The garage is so cold that the banana trees and hibiscus are very unhappy.   They may be fine in the spring.

And my beloved herb garden out on the deck is asleep for the winter.

Now still snuggled in the warm house, it is snowing again outside.  Ken insists he has to drive me to the Call Center today because it "gives me a sense of worth"  he says.    What a man!