A Bitter Cold Weather Blizzard Story

I know, I know, you're probably getting tired of us Northerners talking about the weather and how cold it is up here at the edge of the world. But when it's so cold and you're housebound for months at a time you've got to have something to talk about. There's always one-upsmanship in the weather category. So here goes, okay?

Back when Lovely Daughter was 5 years old we took a trip to visit Big Brother over the Christmas holidays. He was living in California at that time - out in the desert where he was employed as a "rocket scientist." Of course the weather was beautiful at that time - up in the 70s in the daytime although it did get a bit nippy at night.

One day Ole and Big Brother's son, who was about 12 at the time went out riding dirt bikes in the desert, and unfortunately they had an accident on their way back to Big Brother's house. Ole broke some toes on one foot and did some other damage to his leg (the one he just had surgery on in October. I think that's where all his problems started.) So he couldn't wear a real shoe because of his broken toes.

We had initially flown out there to buy an old Mustang (car) and drive it back to Minnesota to sell it. California cars are noted for not having any rust, you know, and California Mustangs were selling for big bucks back here at that time. Big Brother had found a beautiful creamy yellow '68 convertible with a black top for us. So when the time came we loaded up the car and headed north. We had the "smarts" when we packed to go to CA, knowing we would be driving back in January, that we better pack lots of warm clothes in case we got caught in a storm or something.

Of course at that time of the year there was bad weather in the mountains, so we had to take the southern route through Arizona and New Mexico to get out of there. All went well for the first day or two until we got up into Nebraska and we started hearing weather reports of a bad blizzard in South Dakota. That was back in the days when Ole thought he was invincible. We drove into the storm about the time we crossed the Nebraska/South Dakota border - and was it a storm to end all storms. Lovely Daughter was sitting in the back seat with every piece of winter clothing on that we had along, wrapped up in blankets and coats to the point that all you could see were these big brown eyes peeping out of her coverings. Ole and I had our long down coats on and couldn't stay warm. You see, this was a California car and even though it had a heater I don't think it had ever been turned on - and it wasn't working at all.

The snow was blowing so hard that we could barely see the front of the car, let alone see ahead of you. Ole many times had to stick his head out the window to watch the white line in the middle of the road. I watched the white line on the side of the road to keep from going in the ditch. And we heard on the radio at that time that the wind chill was 100 degrees below zero - and Ole with no boots on - just a sock and a moccasin on the foot with broken toes. It was so cold in the car that the snow was blowing in where the convertible top met the windshield. It landed on the dash and didn't melt. And if you know anything about South Dakota, you know it's pretty sparsely populated and it can be a long, long ways between towns.

I finally convinced Ole to stop so we pulled into Watertown, SD and managed to find a motel room. Fortunately Ole is very mechanical and automotively knowledgeable. So he dumped us in the motel room and took off to find something to fix the heater with. He found an automotive supply store that was open, bought what he needed and headed for the nearest car wash where he knew it would be warm and out of the wind so he could work on the car. He had to kick some kids out of the car wash that were hanging around doing nothing, flushed the radiator and the heater core, got all kinds of gunk out of it, replaced the thermostat and he was back in business. The heater blew all kinds of warm air.

So he stopped and picked up a pizza and made it back to the motel. Now the next problem was how were we going to get that car started the next morning when the forecast was for 40 below zero temps that night. Never fear, Ole's mind is always working. He had purchased a dip stick heater at the supply store, plugged that in and then took out the battery and brought it into the hotel room to keep it warm.

The next morning we woke up to bright sunshine and no wind and the 40 below temperatures. Ole brought the battery out and installed it, unplugged the dip stick heater and the car started right up. Now mind you, this car still had California plates on it, and it was the ONLY one at the motel that was running. Ole had a pair of jumper cables in the trunk, so he hobbled around in his moccasin and jumped a number of other cars to help get them started. The best one was when he drove over to a car with Alaska plates, hooked up the jumper cables and got the guy's car started. The guy looked in amazement and asked if Ole was REALLY from California. Of course Ole had to say yes, and then asked, "Does it always get this cold around here?"

We made the remainder of the trip without incident and landed home safe and sound within a couple of hours. But when I think of what COULD have happened to us in that storm - well, let's not go there, okay?

Love Lena

The Leftovers

"DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS WILL CONTINUE TODAY..WINDS TODAY WILL BE NW AT 15 TO 20 MPH WITH A FEW GUSTS AND THESE SPEEDS COMBINED WITH BITTERLY COLD TEMPS WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILLS IN THE 25 TO 40 BELOW ZERO RANGE THROUGH EARLY EVENING."



The storm is over. The wind died down sometime during the night and this morning dawned bright and sunny but bitterly cold. I spent the morning blowing snow off the deck and cleaning off the concrete in front of the driveway. Ole's been out in the tractor cleaning out the driveway and had to run the half mile into town to get gas before he was done. Unfortunately on his way home from the gas station he got a flat tire. Definitely not the kind of weather to have a flat, and on a tractor yet. He drove the tractor home on the flat, pulled it off the tractor, dumped it in the truck and took off for town to buy a new tire. So he won't be done moving snow until sometime this afternoon.



I've started a pan of homemade carmel rolls. I thought that would be a good treat for him after he's spent the day out in the cold.



So here's some pictures of the leftovers from the storm. Yes, I know it's pretty and all, but having to deal with it when it's so cold out just isn't any fun. I looked like Frosty the Snowman by the time I got done blowing snow because no matter which direction I turned the shoot on the blower it always blew back into my face. Brrr.

I have a blizzard story to tell you, but that will have to wait until later. Right now I've got to get back to my carmel rolls.

Love Lena

THE OTHER SHOE DROPPED

"LIFE THREATENING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA."

Ole and I have been listening to all the cancellation announcements on the radio this morning. And horror of horrors - The lutefisk supper at the Sons of Norway Hall had to be postponed for tonight. Ole and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. All those poor Norskies will have to park their salivary glands until next weekend and just wait to enjoy their lutefisk. There won't be a problem keeping it that long I'm sure because after being soaked in all that lye water it certainly won't spoil anymore than it already is.

This is a very dangerous blizzard and it's hit with a vengeance. We're currently having 50 mph winds, it's snowing sideways, (but then it always snows sideways here) and visibility is down to zero in the country and less than a block in the city. Even in our yard, which is lined on all four sides with rows of very large evergreens, we can occasionally get a glimpse of Daughter's house, but mostly all we see is white. All the highways are closed and we're hoping that Ole doesn't get called out on a fire call.

My deck has become a bird sanctuary. I've got several large feeders out and loaded them all yesterday and placed them on small tables right next to the house in front of the windows - mostly so they would be protected from the wind but also for cat entertainment purposes. When I walked out into the living room this morning Lucy was sitting in the bay window face to face with a squirrel. They were busy chattering back and forth at each other.



That's my grandmother's Christmas cactus over on the left. It's covered with blossoms this year. I'll have to get a better picture of it for you. Here's the resident squirrel talking back to Lucy.




Here's more entertainment for Lucy. She flattens herself on the floor in front of the window and pretends the birds can't see her. Then her whiskers go a mile a minute and she chatters on and on. The birds drive her crazy.
.

Then she took up residence on Ole's lap where it was warm. By the way, it's Lucy's birthday tomorrow. I'm sure she's appreciate any gifts of catnip that you may want to send her way!!

A bit later it was nap time with Senior Citizen Simon.

If one spot doesn't suit them they can always find another.

I've been meaning to share this with you for some time. We take Daisy and Beau for a run in the country every night. Isn't it amazing what internal clocks animals have? Every afternoon about 4:30 they start poking Ole in the leg convincing him that it's time to go for their run. They're very persistent and become more and more obnoxious if Ole doesn't drop everything and put them in the truck. Of course it's too cold for them to ride in the back now, so they're in the cab with us. Thank heavens Ole's got a big truck. When they get close to the point where Ole let's them out they become - well - here, take a look for yourself. You'd think that Daisy is being whipped to within an inch of her life - all she wants to do is get out ~ ~ ~

I think Ole and I are going to bake cookies this afternoon. It's a good day to do it. So come over for coffee and fresh cookies later, okay?

Love Lena