I thought I'd take a moment during a break from shoveling to post some additional photos from later in the day as the dig-out continues. (As noted in the earlier post below, Maine received 1-2 feet of snow during a Nor'easter last night).
Kenman and Sammie near the gate in our side yard
As I write this in our living room, I can hear the scrapes of shovels and the rumble of snow blowers from every direction. It will probably take a day or so before most of us get both cars accessible again. Fortunately we're expecting a break for a day or so before the next "wintry mix" comes in on Wednesday, but I don't think much accumulation is predicted in that one (at least not yet). Typically the plows will come through again after the first pass, which means there's another pile of snow from that blocking your driveway after you clear it the first time -- so typically for a storm this size, shoveling your driveway once is not enough.
Sam loves licking snow, and stays nearby at the street as I shovel our driveway (photo taken from the road looking toward the car).
So far I've dug a path in the front of our house from the porch to the street, and out back (our driveway is actually behind our house and accessed from another little street) I've dug a single-file narrow path from the house to that street and started on the pile of snow left by the city plows in front of our driveway. That pile is going to take a while, so I won't be driving anywhere anytime soon (thank goodness for our local bus system).
I'm not a good enough photographer to really show what it looks like with the naked eye, but perhaps the photos can give you an idea the amount of snow that needs to be moved. The pile of snow between the front of the car in order to reach the street (made much larger when the plows came through) is about 10 feet by 10 feet square and comes up to my chest (I guess that's about 4.5 feet or something).
Fortunately this snowfall was a mostly dry one so it's not so heavy -- except for the parts that have drifted which get sort of packed into place, and what was thrown by the plows which tends to feel like boulder-sized chunks of concrete. So far I've dug out about1/4 of the area needed t
o get the car out - I'm attacking that pile a bit from each direction a little at a time. As they say, one step at a time. When there's this much snow, the biggest challenge is finding somewhere to throw it!All the snow on the left needs to be moved to get our car out of our driveway. It's times like this I'm glad our driveway is pretty short!
The dogs took me on an unexpected adventure this morning when they decided to explore the neighborhood without me. The snow was so deep I had let them out of the gate without leashes earlier today, and they simply followed behind me as I shoveled my way up toward the car.
Silly me thought once I broke through to the road they'd continue to stay close while I shoveled, and our lead dog, Samantha did do just that. But not so for Jasmine. For a dog that moves so slowly when we're in a hurry, she can sure move quickly when she feels like it (especially when she knows she's supposed to turn around). As soon as she made her way through the "tunnel" I had dug to the street, she simply pointed her head down the street and kept right on going. Didn't turn around once, despite seeing her ears perk up when I called her (she ignored me). Oops.
Kennedy soon realized that if Jaz was going for an adventure then he wanted to go too -- so off he went behind her. So then Samantha watches them trot away, looks back at me standing their still poised with my shovel and my mouth open in surprise, looks again at Jaz and Ken's backsides as they trotted off happily down the street, and then took off after them. Oops. Oops. Oops. (One for each dog).
I couldn't really fault Sam for taking off after them when she realized they were on their own. She's turned into quite the moma dog lately and has proven herself by staying near them when we go for "intentional" off-
leash walks on the beach or to a park or trail where that is allowed. During those outings, when Jaz or Ken wanders ahead out of eyesight for few minutes, Sammie stays with them until I catch up, and very often will "go find them" for me if I'm not sure where to look. This was not one of those "intentional" off leash times however and Sam knew that. But what's a lead dog to do when the pack takes off without it's leaders? Suddenly the leaders became the followers. Hmmm.Sam followed them, with me in tow trying without success to catch up, and she stayed with them until Jaz and Ken decided to go in different directions. I could almost hear the "uhoh" from her as she looked first one way and then the other -- as I watched this from about 50 yards behind. But she watched over them quietly, never making a big ruckus about it. She reminded me of those people in life who take care of everyone around them, but do so without promoting themselves or making a big deal out of the work they do. Some of the most hard-working people I know seldom even mention all the good works they do for others--they just move through life with graceful, quiet purpose. I admire and respect that selfless way of giving back to the world. I wonder if they learned to do that by watching their dogs?
As I followed the three of them trying to catch up (my two legs just weren't a match for their 12), I could see Sam make the choice to stay with Jazz, apparently recognizing her (rightly so) as the weaker of the two. Dogs are so smart. We poor humans are lucky to maintain even a fraction of that kind of instinctual wisdom and insight.
As I followed their trail along the snow-covered streets (I could see them ahead), this meant I had to make a choice too, so I decided to corral Jaz first (knowing Sam would return via voice control), and then come back for Kennedy later. However Jaz was on a mission and made it all the way to the beach (three streets away) before I caught her and herded her back home. Without leashes the trip back was a challenge sometimes when her exploring nose turned her in a direction other than toward home when she caught an interesting scent or sight.
But as tends to happen when we use a little persistance and patience to get a job done, we made it back to the homestead eventually. Then I grabbed Sam's leash and took her with me to find Kennedy, who was fortunately on his way back home and simply taking his time to sniff and pee everywhere and on everything along the way. Male dogs never cease to amaze me at the amount of water they can generate in order to mark
something. Kennedy is like a machine at that when he goes for a walk -- I simply don't know where he stores it all in that little 60-pound body of his.Anyway, eventually we all arrived back home safe and sound, and since Sam had earned the right to be trusted off leash yet again, she was allowed to go out with me later to shovel -- sans leash. She lived up to the faith I put in her by simply sitting nearby as I shoveled, and then followed me back to the house during my next break. Obviously I realize if something just too interesting had come along she might have been tempted to check it out (she is a dog after all), but fortunately our street is pretty safe -- especially in this kind of weather when the few cars around move slowly, so it semed minimal risk in this case to give her a bit of freedom. I was very proud of how she lived up to the trust I placed in her today. After all, she had earned it when it really counted. She's amazing. It's true what they say that we can learn a lot from dogs.
It was a funny story to tell Tim later. As I mentioned Tim is on the road just now -- actually he's in the Grenadines working on some maintenance issues for our charter boat business as we prepare to move it to another location for a few months (more on that in later blog). Originally I was planning to join him there for a few days, but the earlier ice storm changed things when Red Cross opened shelters for those without power (I've been training to be a Red Cross Disaster Action Team member and this storm was the first time I've been called out in Maine). It was a very cool experience.
So we've flip-flopped plans and Tim is coming home early instead. The pups and I will take a road-trip to Boston Logan soon to pick Tim up at the airport. Sometimes life is strange like that. Wasn't it Steinbeck who said "the best laid plans of mice and men"?
But what can we do except adapt to whatever comes with a smile and get on with it? And hey, those "unexpected events" will sometimes lead to unexpected fun too -- if I keep a positive attitude and choose to look at life's twists and turns as just another part of life. To me, how things turn out in life is directly related to how willing I am to just "deal with it" with a positive spirit when things happen -- especially unexpected things. After all, wouldn't life be pretty boring if there were no unexpected twists and turns?
However, sometimes I lose my equilibrium and indulge in some self pity for a while. What can I say? I'm human with all the weaknesses therein, and have my low points just like anyone else. To me, though, the secret of life is not letting that "self pity party" become a way of life! Life's much too short for that, even for those of us who don't measure our time on earth in very short dog years. :>) And there are many small joys in everyday life too, and a positive side to most every thing that happens -- if I'm just willing to open my eyes to see and appreciate them.
It's time to get back out there and move some more snow. (My muscles are getting such a great workout I feel like Popeye except without the spinach!). So as Tigger would say TTFN!
Best, Carla
