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You Thought We Had Problems Yesterday

Oh, how beautiful!  A white Christmas!

There’s lots of snow . . maybe 8″.  And, the temp is about 12° and it feels like -6°.

But . . there’s a slight problem.

The snow shovel . . it’s in the storage building that we rent . . about a mile from home.  We have an oversized three car garage on the ground level, an oversized one car garage in the walkout basement, about a 25 x 30 pole barn out back and we have no room here at home to keep a snow shovel . . in December!  I cannot figure it out.

Vince and Chad decide they’re going to take the pickup and go to the storage building and get the snow shovel.  The pickup is not 4 wheel drive.  Once they got the doors open, they were good to go.

It went downhill quickly from the end of the driveway!  Spinning and going sideways.  Finally got the pickup backing down the street.

Notice these photos are being taken by the photographer (me) who isn’t venturing far out into the snow!

But, this is as far as they got.  Just to the edge of our front yard.  The shadow is our house.

They decided to bundle up and walk to the storage building.  What’s a mile there and a mile back when it’s -4°?   So . . off they went on foot . . through the snow.

Bye y’all!  Stay warm!

Only a little farther guys!

Another half hour and you’ll be there!  Remember this is how your grandparents got to school!  They walked miles through the snow! But, wait . . weren’t Chad’s grandparents in Louisiana?  Maybe they didn’t walk miles through this much snow.  Oh well . . it doesn’t matter.  They have to retrieve that snow shovel.  (Don’t ask me why . . we have no place to go!)

The crazy thing (even crazier than not having a snow shovel at the house in December) is that we have two 4 wheel drive vehicles in the garage.  Take one of those!  This snow is nothing for either one.  But, if he takes one of those, and brings them back into the garage, all that water will get in the garage when the snow melts off the vehicle.  I’m understanding men less and less each day.

They were gone a long time.  They stopped and talked to a snow plow man and asked him to come plow our street.  And, he did!  OK . . so the picture was taken through the window.  Told you I wasn’t going out in this weather.

Then they get back!

But . . without snow shovels.  The lock was frozen on the building and they couldn’t get it to open.

The snow plow did a great job and now they’re digging out with the garden shovel.  Back they went to the storage building in the truck, along with a bottle of alcohol and a cup.  They submerged the lock in alcohol and . . mission accomplished.  A snow shovel for each of them.

Now they’re too tired to shovel the driveway!  If it’s ok with everyone else, we’ll just stay home til April.  Surely the snow will have all melted by then.  🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Way to funny. I see you were the smart one, staying home and nice and cozy. We had some frost this AM, male dog loves it romping around in, and female dog goes around brrr my pads are frozen as she tip toes to the edge of the lawn.

  2. Oh My Gosh, that made me laugh out loud!!!!

    Glad the snow is finished in your neck of the woods. It’s still coming down here in North Dakota, and the WIND!!!!

    We only have around six to eight inches, but the drifts are already two and a half feet deep…and that was several hours ago!

    I’m just phyching myself up to go out and check on the animals to make sure they’re all still huddled in the barns, lol.

  5. Oh Judy, what a great story. The male mind does indeed work in mysterious ways. LOL Look at it this way….they had a nice walk in the snow and got their exercise for the day. They worked off some calories and can enjoy the good Christmas dinner I know you cooked for them without guilt. Really, there HAS to be a small spot in your garages or pole building to put a couple of snow shovels. You were the smart one to stay inside. I figure if the storm keeps up long enough I might get a snow day tomorrow too………people can read what they have at home, they don’t need the library open. Probably too much to hope for.

  6. Judy, I am so glad I didn’t go home for Christmas I would have been snowed in and not made it back to my house. We had the blizzard type winds and snow blowing sideways but the sun is out and I am sure what coverage we had is all about gone now. Smiles from central Texas

    • They’re in the coop with the heater running. We didn’t even let them outside today. Thanks for asking about them.

  8. Ah…yes….MEN…..very hard to figure out how their brains work (or DON’T, whatever the case may be). GOOD laugh reading this story. Hope you are having Merry Christmas otherwise! (At least Vince and Chad had some good “bonding time” on their long walk to the storage shed and back….hehehe)

  9. Hey, that’s interesting about the alcohol. I used to use a cigarette lighter (which I could barely work – especially in freezing weather – since I’ve never smoked) to get the car lock to work. I think you need to take possession of the snow shovel and decide on its disposition :-).

  10. I’m still laughing!! You really need to write a book on all your adventures. When we moved here from Michigan we kept our snow shovel. You never know! What a great Christmas story!!

  12. I’m not real surprised at the logic of where to store the snow shovels. My husband thought it would be best to store the emergency hurricane supplies, like all the flashlights and batteries, in the golf cart garage. The one that we can’t get into if the power goes out. And, once he had to be away for a couple months, so I gave him the spare key to his car to keep in case of an emergency. He decided to store that in the trunk of that same car.

    In his defense, I’m sure I do many more illogical things than he even considered, but to me they make sense:-)

  17. Me again. I just read the whole story to hubby and he thought it all sounded logical to him. Men, go figure!

  18. yep i can definitely sympathize. when i lived where it snowed in multiple inches, i was always the one who brought the shovel inside and stocked up the wood for the stove beforehand. seems like if it makes sense a woman’s gotta do it or it won’t get done. LOL

  22. Oh my gosh – what’s with those men! LOLOL! I thought 4-wh. drive vehicles were made just for times like those! Too funny! Maybe they had things to talk about?

    We are very cold in western Nebraska (high of 8 above) with strong winds 35-56 mph, and blowing snow, but fortunately not a lot of snow. Wind is horrendous though – good to be home and safe. Tomorrow is MY day for MY sewing and quilting. We managed to get to the garage and bring in the 2 basting tables for that job tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a good day. And I don’t have anyplace to go. 8-))

    Thanks for all your qilting tips and ideas and eye candy. Happy New Year.

  24. Wonderful story….brings back a childhood memory from around the mid-’60s. We had a record-breaking, or at least during my young lifetime, snow of a couple feet or more overnight. No vehicle at our house would start. My dad decides we should walk the mile-plus uphill (500′ gain) road to the main ranch house to get the tractor to plow the road (road plows didn’t do it there). It was no easy task treading through unbroken deep snow – he led, I followed in his footsteps – we stopped often to catch our breath. Getting there, the tractor we thought would start wouldn’t, but another one did thankfully.

  25. Exceptionally well written and well documented. Even as I read this to DH, and he was laughing, we were both remembering the many times he has done similar things. MEN!!

  27. What a hoot! We got stuck in Rochester MN when they had 24″ of snow overnight (in April no less!) and there were no maintenance men to help me dig out the car in the parking lot – or the parking lot. COOKIE SHEET!!!!! It took a while, and boy was it cold! I can’t believe Vince and Chad walked that distance in this cold! It’s really blowing here in Belton, and I can’t even walk across the yard let alone a mile! You were the smart one, gf!

    • My snow shovels are in the garage. I guess I had better get them out NOW.

      Quilterbee

  29. Too funny! reminds me of last weekened when we had our big snow. Now, our street is on a very steep hill and the snow was about 4 inches deep when I came home. The poor little PT Cruiser is low to the ground and I got stuck at the bottom of the hill ( alomg with several other cars) I called my husband and he came down the hill and was bound and determined to get the car back home. Well after numerous trys, getting stuck and slipping sideways , it wound up spending the night in someones yard. The next day he shoveled out the sidewalk and driveway with the garden shovel and got the car back home but had to shovel the road ahead of him also as the plows hadn’t been by yet.

  31. Men! My hubby would be out there all day long with the snow blower clearing everyone’s driveway on the whole street. And then he would actually do the street too. On time the plow was going to turn down our street and he stopped, opened the door and looked out and saw a beautifully cleared street and he drove on by. My husband thought that was the greatest compliment he got all season.

  32. What a funny story! Thank you for the day after Christmas gift of laughter. It is needed where I am with the snow drifts and stranded people. I do so enjoy your Blog. Thank you.

  33. OMG, I’m laughing along with all of the others who have posted. I have to say, I look forward to the next Vince and/or Chad adventures. Many thanks for sharing. They HAVE to know that you write about them when they do things like that.

  37. Judy, thank you for sharing this story. Along with the others the story was enjoyed by both Allen and me. So funny. I could hardly read it to him without laughing. We live 3 miles west of Fort Scott and the drifts were against the garage door and the barn door. Couldn’t get either vehicle out. Allen had to dig the drifts away from the other barn door to get it open and get the tractor out. He then cleared the driveway. We finally made it to town today but that is as far as we went. Were going to OK to visit family but decided to stay home. Have a Happy New Year. Hope to see you soon. Jackie

  38. Judy, glad someone had a white Christmas. We had rain most of the day and it melted most of our little bit of snow. We did however, get some snow last night and all day today.

    I love your stories. Guys, you just can’t figure them out.

  39. HA – MEN!
    What is it with the way they think? Or, the way they DON’T think?

    Great story, thanks for sharing & giving us all a good laugh!

    BLM 🙂

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