There is a tired old joke about a first-time snowbird who
straps a snow shovel to the grill of his car and drives south until someone
asks him what it is. Any snowbird’s ultimate goal is to avoid snow and cold all
together. It is a nice fantasy, but the truth is we still see snow at some
point each calendar year. One year we had 3” in south Texas around Thanksgiving.
Granted it was gone by Noon and the guys were pitching horseshoes in 60-degree
temps that afternoon. We have seen April snow in Iowa more years than not since
we started escaping.
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| Not amused |
What I never expected to do ever again was drive in heavy
snowfall with near white out conditions. After all we leave by late October
each year. A dusting can be expected once in awhile based on my 50+ years
enduring the year-round Midwest climate, but today was ridiculous.
It started snowing while I was at work. Since moving our rig
to our son’s place for the last couple of weeks I am commuting 40 miles south
my last few shifts. After some unwelcome early season snowfall yesterday, the
weatherman said there was a 40% chance of another dusting. The dusting was in
the form of heavy wet snow around 4” by the time I left at Noon. Needless to
say, I don’t own a brush or ice scraper any longer. I cleaned the truck off as
best I could, blasted the defrost and headed out.
As I made my way north out of the city and away from the storm,
I saw 5 active accident scenes in the first 3 miles, one with two ambulances.
Same story every year. People get caught off guard by the first real snow and
end up in the ditches and tangled up in guard rails. The commute reminded me of
the old days when I drove in adverse conditions all winter and dreamed of the day
when we could get out of this godforsaken, frozen hell in the winter. At the
farm there were mere flurries that weren’t sticking to anything. A vastly
different scene than the one I left behind in Ankeny.
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| Interstate 35 |
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| If I only had a brush |
Driving north, I met a number or rigs pulling south for
the winter. Snowbirds like me wishing they had left last week. Still it beats
the heck out of the trip of those who wait until after the holidays to leave. In
true Midwest fashion it is supposed to be around 70 on Thursday. I’ll take
advantage of that day to arrange my compartment and garden stuff that will go
with me to Texas. The weather can and will do about anything this time of year.
I’m glad I will be here for a granddaughter’s birthday who has never known us
to be here for her special day. I’m grateful we are not pulling our truck and
motorcycles down the interstate today in this mess. Most of all I’m grateful
that my new Infrared space heater is supplementing the furnace nicely as we
ride out this unseasonal cold spell in good ole’ Iowa.
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| The plant tables look so lonely today |
It is so hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, I was basking in 100 degree heat in the Garden Center. These last weeks, I do very little in the Garden Center but am spending most of my time inside helping set up Christmas and stocking hardware freight. I have 3 shifts left, before I say goodbye to my coworkers for the winter. Like smoke through a keyhole, the weird 2020 season has all but vanished.
Until Next Time...
