For years I kept journals -- in composition, spiral bound, and French graph paper books. This blog is an attempt to get back to writing and documenting the world around me using photos, newspaper headlines, and other articles.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Blizzard of 2015

We have survived the blizzard of 2015, pretty easily, in fact.  The local new station said our town received 28 inches of snow.  That makes up for the lack of snow for the past two months.  Anyway, we maintained power and heat.  Our snow blower didn't break down.  The shovels I bought in anticipation of the event worked well.  It turned out to be 2 days of no office work and no school and plenty of together time.

Monday after work I stopped by our local hardware store and bought 2 shovels and another flashlight, just in case.  I picked up Thai food as a treat.  After getting my lovey lamb off of the school bus, I got into my cozy clothes and gathered all the laundry in the house and pushed it through the washer and dryer.  I ran the dishwasher.  I made sure everybody bathed, just in case.  We knew before going to bed that everything would be closed on Tuesday and we would be home.

The snow and wind started in the late afternoon.  We kept the heat higher than usual when we went to bed, just in case the power did go out and we lost the ability to have a functioning furnace.  I woke up at some point in the night because the sound of the wind was super loud.  Waking up at 7:00, I was surprised that we had maintained power.  There was some snow, but it was hard to tell how much because of the wind and the drifts.

We got out to test out the new shovels around 10:00.  The fierceness of the wind made it not super fun to be out.  But the excuse for popcorn and hot chocolate after, made the outside time worth while.



Around 4:00, we went out again.  This time the town plow had been by and my hubby had made the first pass with the snow blower.  The piles of snow were getting larger and more impressive.




The I don't have school tomorrow dance.




We went to bed knowing that the local school district had closed school for Wednesday.  I didn't check the weather board at work because I didn't want to be disappointed, if I had to go in.  I woke up before my 4:15 alarm and called in to work to find that 1st shift had another day off.  Woot!  Back to bed.

Today the sun came out and we spent a good part of our morning outside, shoveling the edges of the driveway and clearing off my car.







Nedim went to help some friends clear out their driveways.  Then he came home to tackle the roof.




Taking a break


I'm glad I didn't see our child jump from the roof into the snow.

Mom, I'm stuck!


And then we went sledding.  Well, the boys went down on sleds.  I stayed at the top and documented.






Tomorrow will be back to regular life.  I've enjoyed these two extra days of togetherness.



Monday, January 19, 2015

25 degrees and rain

I had such high hopes for this long weekend. My original plan: drive Selim over to the Ashram on Friday afternoon and come home today, Monday.  Heather and family were driving up Friday night for the long weekend, so we would have three days of togetherness with our boys.  But I got sick and didn't want to spread my germs, so I met Robert in Concord on Friday evening and he brought Selim home for the festivities.  I returned home and spent the next 30 hours on the couch.

While semi-conscious on Saturday, I thought that I heard the forecaster say a warm up and rain on Sunday, starting in the afternoon.  Rain and warm up did not sound like a recipe for disaster and I didn't think much of it.  New plan: I had overtime coverage Sunday morning from 5:30-11:30 and then I would drive up to the Ashram to spend one night with everybody.  I had no trouble getting to work.  At my desk, with the radio on, I heard of a weather advisory and a chance of freezing rain.  I touched base with Mom and Robert and they hadn't heard of any bad weather.

I left work and headed out.  About a half hour in, Heather called and said it seemed a bit slick, so I should take it easy.  The roads were clear through Northwood and I kept going.  I got behind a sand truck before the Epsom traffic circle and the conditions weren't too bad.  Conditions started to change in East Concord.  As I got on Route 393, there were two flares and part of the guardrail had been taken out.  As I approached the intersection with Route 93, there were six cars off the road, one police car and one car pointing east, not west.  A road sign assistance/message board said that traffic was slow headed south, 13 minutes to Route 89 -- may be a 5 mile distance.  Uh-oh. At this point, I wasn't sure what I should do.  If I turned around, I had a long section of uphill road that was really slick.  Would I make it?  If I kept going, there was a chance that I could make it, just later than planned.

I got onto Route 93 and passed four cars off the road within the first mile.  The road surface was icy.  No salt or sand trucks on my side, all were headed south.  A little fear crept in. In a caravan with four other cars, travelling between 27-34 miles per hour I continued north.  Every now and then, a big SUV would come by and pass on the left.  As I watched them fishtail in that lane, I realized that I was just fine in my little pod of cars.  If I could have taken one of my hands off the wheel, I would have taken a picture of my dashboard showing my speed when I passed another road assistance/ message sign that flashed "SLOW DOWN! REDUCE SPEED TO 45!  SLOW DOWN!"

No worries on that score.  I started to relax when I got off the exit and negotiated the off ramp successfully.  As I sat at the stop sign, an ambulance with flashing lights passed me going south.  I pulled out after it, at a respectable distance.  We passed underneath the highway and then at the entrance to the southbound on ramp, the ambulance turned and parked itself crosswise over both lanes and stopped.  The driver got out and told me that Route 127 would be closed for a while because there were 10 cars or 10 accidents in the next section of road.  I could try my luck going down Johnson Road, but he didn't know how that would be.

At this point, I had been on the road two hours and was less than 5 miles away.  So close.  Instead of sitting there, I gave Johnson Road a try.  Upon reflection, I made the best decisions that I could at each step of the way.  Had I stepped out of my car at that point, I would have realized that taking the right hand turn down Johnson Rd and not waiting for the sand/salt trucks and tow trucks to clear 127 was completely idiotic.  Since I didn't have the actual feel of the ice under me, I went for the detour.  My thought was if I could make it to Brook Road, I would be fine.  I made it down the hill, alternating praying out loud and using all the colorful swear combinations that popped into my head.   I hadn't remembered the steepness of the hill or the sudden, tight curves until it was too late and there was no way to reverse course.  There was no place to pull over safely and I had to press on.  I don't recall ever being so sure I was going to end in a ditch.

I made it to the bottom and merged onto the dirt Brook Road.  I made it halfway up and no more.  It was a sheet of ice and no dirt was visible.  My car could not get any traction.  As I was backing down the road, more like slipping sideways and trying not to overcompensate, and do a 360, I saw a car behind me.  I managed to stop and motioned that they could pass me.  The driver pulled along side and asked me if I would like him to see if he could get my car up.  I said sure.  I stepped out  and just about fell flat on my tush.  Was I wearing my good snow boots?  No, just my in town, go to work, boots.  The whole road was an unblemished sheet of ice.  I handed him my keys.  He couldn't get my car up the hill, but he did turn it around so that I could drive back down the hill and not be trying it backwards.  He then followed me while I parked my car in some body's wide driveway at the junction of Hale, Morrison and Brook Road.

Taken this morning, with a sanded road clearly visible.

I left a note on my dashboard, grabbed my purse and my overnight bag and got in his all-wheel drive car.



His name was Scott and we knew people in common.  Have I ever gotten in a stranger's car before?  It didn't matter, if he could take me closer to home, I would gratefully accept.  He was my Good Samaritan number one.  I borrowed his cell phone and told Robert where I was.  He drove 3/4 up the big hill before he had to stop because a minivan had slid off the road going down the hill and he couldn't pass.  As everybody stood in the road and debated what to do next, I got my bags, thanked Scott, and started walking.  It was 25 degrees, raining, and miserable out.  The only place I could get any footing was in the snowbank.  Every time I traversed a driveway, I lost the softness of the snow and slid.  It was tiring.  I felt like the scene in Sound of Music when Julie Andrews is skipping down the lane with a bag in each hand, swinging away.  Except I wasn't in Austria in the summer and I wasn't skipping or singing.  But my bags were definitely swinging.

As I walked/slid/tried to stay upright at all costs I revisited every decision point and asked myself if I had made the right one.  The one time I had new information and it would have been safe to turn around was 20 minutes in to my drive when I talked to Heather and she said it was getting slick.  That was the point to turn around and call it a day.  But none of us thought that slick would turn in to treacherous so quickly.  Everybody was caught off guard.  According to the paper today, the state ran out of available tow trucks and ambulances by mid-afternoon and all available salt/sand trucks were in use.  But we didn't know that then.  Anyway, then I wondered if I had been plain stubborn, thinking I could make it, despite all indications to the contrary.  I don't often think of myself as stubborn, but if I am, I come by it honestly.  Does self checkout from a hospital after experiencing heart attack symptoms sound familiar to anyone?

I continued on.  Alternately ridiculing my decision making and just laughing at myself.  Right before Prescott Road, Good Samaritan number two came by and offered me a ride.  I told him that I was trying to get to the bottom of Brook Road.  He said no problem. He went out of his way and drove me down Prescott Road and up Weeks Road to Todd's.  I didn't really have a plan B if he wasn't home.  Luckily, he was in.

It felt so good to get out of the rain for a minute.  We called Mom and she said that Robert had just left to come get me.  As Todd went to put on his jacket, I stood at the kitchen window and just happen to see Robert fly by on a sled.
     "Todd, Robert's on a sled!"
     "What?"
     "ROBERT'S ON A SLED!!"

I couldn't believe it.  Mom said he was on his way and thought he might have taken the Ashram truck or something.  But I had told him not to drive because it was too dangerous so he wouldn't have taken a truck.  I didn't image that I would see him sitting in a red toboggan, speeding down an ice covered, empty road.  And yet, when I saw him next, there he was, carrying 3 ski poles and wearing a heavy backpack, his rain gear and dragging Selim's red sled, and smiling.  He had packed for our survival -- extra ice spikes for my boots, water bottles, head lamps, and ski poles to help with balance.  I didn't ask about snacks.  As we were standing in the driveway, Jen drove up.  She had made it from Concord.  When she got to Route 127, it was open.  If I had just waited...

Todd and Jen drove us up the paved part of Osgood Road.  Having just sledded a mile down the road, Robert knew that trying to go up the dirt road was not smart.

Taken after the sand trucks arrived today

We could see the sled marks that Robert had made on his way down the road.  He had a wild ride.  We got out when the road turned to dirt and parted ways with Todd and Jen. We put ice spikes on my shoes, my bags in the sled, and away we went for the last 1/2 mile or so on foot.  Robert was having a great time.  It was totally his thing -- a combination of science experiment, the natural elements, physical activity and service to others.  Three and a half hours after leaving Dover, I made it to Mom's.




Next time I see 25 degrees and rain at the same time, I'll stay home.

On Monday this was the difference between a sanded and non-sanded road taken in 34 degree weather when we retrieved my car.








Saturday, January 3, 2015

Holiday Recap

This has been an odd few weeks.  I had a really hard time with the holiday season this year.  I didn't have much energy and felt really blue.  One of the triggers was Selim's Christmas wish list.  On it were the two things I didn't want to get him: Nerf guns and a computer.  I've reached my limit with the guns that he has, even though they are fake.  December marked the second anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting, the Ferguson and NYC grand jury verdicts, and then there was that horrific, terrorist attack on the school in Peshawar.  I could not make myself buy Selim another gun or more ammunition for his existing collection.  And then he wanted a computer.  To me, he spends enough time in front of an electronic device and he doesn't need another one.  So I didn't know what to get him that he would enjoy.  And since we were trying to be frugal this year because of some things we want in 2015, I couldn't see a happy Christmas for him.  And I've been sick.  I've had this lingering cold and cough which has led to flagging energy.  Not the best combination.

Christmas ended up being very sweet.  We managed to get Selim things that he enjoyed with the bigger present to come in the spring when we get him a new bike.  Heather and family came up and Nedim ended up spending the night as well, which made for a cozy house hold.  Still, I felt out of sorts and totally out of character, I barely took any pictures (by my standards).  I did get one of the Selim's stocking and his new friend.



And I took a few more when we went on a nature walk.

Don't tell, I've got a snowball.


Waiting for the right moment to make the throw.

Seeing if the beavers ate the treats left the day before.

JT's turn with the binocs.

Sisters

Finding a moth cocoon.

Excavating mouse tunnels.

Shadow play.



I got a couple of us ladies.

Heather and Mom

The three ladies


But otherwise, the camera stayed in my bag.  We spent the weekend after Christmas at the Ashram and enjoyed all the visiting and awesome meals that happens when Heather is home.  She headed back to NY on Monday and Selim and I went home on Tuesday via Hermit Lake and a quick skating adventure for Selim and then Meredith for a much needed hair trim for me.

Putting on skates

Best ice ever for the kids.


Wednesday, I stayed in bed with flu-like symptoms.  I hunkered down on the couch or a bed until this morning when I felt better.  Around noon, I got fully dressed for the first time since Tuesday.  I updated my checkbook which had been stuffed with receipts and a list of checks that I had written since November.  While my final figure didn't totally balance with my bank statement, it was close enough for me not to worry.  And I got in the car and drove down to Portsmouth to run a few errands with Selim.  This was the most productive day of my vacation.  That leaves tomorrow to do a bit of house stuff before returning to work on Monday.  I think I needed this 12 day vacation.

In other news, Nedim is giving quitting smoking another go.  This time he seems more serious about it.  He has been staying home, avoiding his usual triggers.  And he is cranky.  I'm happy that he hasn't smoked in three days, but I can't wait for this moody phase to pass.

And I got the most unexpected piece of mail today.  Aunt Mary had been looking for something in one of her special boxes and came across my birth announcement.  How sweet is that!  I've never seen it before.  I don't think I've ever seen my birth certificate either.  Obviously I have one...but any time that I would have used one for a job to prove my citizenship, I've used my passport.  To have this piece of my past is very special.

My sister's affinity for paper art started at an early age.

"Search for Peace" stamp


I think "Search for Peace" would be a great motto for 2015.  We need some shift in the world.  It seems like there has been so much violence and expressions of hatred and intolerance lately.  It has been hard for me to write about my mundane life and post pictures of normal day to day activity in the face of such extreme sorrow from so many corners of our world.  I'm praying for a greater realization that all us are children of God and that violence against one is violence against Him. May I remember to be more loving, kind, accepting, gentle, and centered in Him this New Year.