I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
Merry Christmas Eve to all!! I am currently writing this email at Nanaw's(my grandmother Cooke for those of you who don't know our nickname for her) . Here in Evansville, we received the biggest snowfall in the history of our city since 1978. The range was from 15 to 22.3 inches depending where you were in Vandeburgh county. I will tell you why I am at Nanaw's at 8 am in a bit, first I want to tell you how the last 24 hours have gone. Nah, actually I better start with a prayer I had a couple weeks ago. Some may say I had something to do with the snow, I say not, but you never know. I've been wanting a white Christmas for a LONG time, and not just the silly little dustings we get here the 1 or 2 inches. I wanted to the up to your knee, snow angel, snow man making, cuddle by the fire and smile, snow.
So, I prayed. What did I pray? That we would have a white Christmas, that the trees would be covered, the roofs would be overflowing, and that it would be the biggest snowfall since the Blizzard of '78. You may ask why I would want this. I have a couple reasons, one I was only 4 years old when the last one hit, and I don't remember it. Second, I love the beatiful snow. I love what it makes us do when we find we aren't in control. That we have to depend on each other. We are not alone in this world, though so many of us live like we are. Yesterday I was struck by the hundreds of people stopping to help. It gives me hope that maybe we aren't all the self-centered uncaring individuals I was beginning to believe our country was turning into. We do care about others.
Sherry and I awoke yesterday morning at 4:30 am. Since those babies don't care if there is a snow storm and come whenever they are ready, Sherry had to go to work, if at anyway possible. And being the discerning wife she was, she suggested I bring home a Land Rover from work. A very wise decision and suggestion on her part. The plan: I would drive her to and from work. The snow was up to the back of our sliding glass window(which has a step up to it) and over our porch out front. Our backyard is one Big pool of snow, I have pictures you may be interested in seeing. We left in the Rover at 5:45 to make sure we get Sherry to the Hospital by 6:45. Oh yeah I almost forgot. We prayed in the LR right before we left that we would make it safely to the Hospital and then from the Hospital to the Gas station(we had less than an 1/8 of a tank).
We layed the first tracks down our street with no problems. This SUV is unstoppable if you don't hit ice. We knew it was bad when we got to the intersection at Oak Grove and Libbert and looked to the right where we usually go. We could see 3-4 cars stranded. To the leftt it was! Then on Bell road South of the Lloyd there was a semi jack-knife and stuck. In all, I know I saw more than 50 cars stuck throughout the day. But we made it safely to the Women's Hospital(WH). Next, to the gas station!
I was planning on filling up and going back to the WH to see if I could help pick up and deliver nurses and doctor's who couldn't make it in. I also wanted to got to Walmart to pick up some things, mainly a snow shovel. God had different plans. I got to the Moto Mart on Lloyd and Burkhardt with no problem and filled up. After paying, I get in to start the LR and.....Nothing! absolutley no cranking and a little ticking. Uh oh! And of course, we don't own a cell phone. I try a few times, give up and go inside to call my Stepfather, Jim, at 7 am. Remember I prayed that I would get safely to the gas station and, well, I did. I know from now on to pray to the end.
Jim came to pick me up 1/2 hour to 45 minutes later. But first we had to move the LR which was blocking the gas pumps. We strapped it up, I was in the LR to steer, Jim was in his 4WD Chevy to drag me. Off we went... about 3 feet and SNAP went the strap! Luckily it was long enough to hand tie. After, getting caught up in some snow a couple times, Jim was able to sling me into a drift on the side of Moto out of the way. Across the street we go to Walmart, open 24 hours a day and even on some holidays. You can't fail with the big ol' blue all-in-one store. I mean where else can you get an oil change, a change of clothes, a filet mignon, a CD, make vacation plans and a snow shovel. I hate the long lines and droves of people, but we do live in a lazy convenient world, and I do partake. Oh wait, they were closed! Really? uhm yeah! I did hear someone at Moto say Schnucks was opening at 8 am. Off to Schnucks!
We were the first ones there. I got everything on Sherry's list. But guess what wasn't on the list, a snow shovel, didn't matter they didn't have one anyways. We drive back to Newburgh and on the way we stop and help push out 2 or 3 cars. On the off chance they are open, we go by True Value Hardware store in Newburgh. YES! But no shovel. Man, teaches me to procrastinate. Jim takes me home and we make a few phone calls. He to Nanaw, me to Brian, the Bossman. This is around 9-9:15. I try calling 2-3 times, no luck. I then call Justin a tell him to Text message Bri. In the mean time, Jim talks to Nanaw, and finds she needs to pick up the Ham at Heavenly Ham. They are open, off we go. We stop again and help some more people. The Christmas ham is had without incedent all the way to Nanaws. So we wait. Finally I get a call from Brian at 10:30 am. He will come pick me up, must be the battery. Yes we did try jumping it- too dead.
Jim picks up mom and they come back over. By now I am pretty hungry, I haven't eaten yet today. Since we have plenty and Christmas dinner tomorrow is in question, I am allowed to have a ham sandwich. Mmm Mmm good, it is quite heavenly. I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with Mom, Jim and Nanaw. We sat around with the Weather channel on talking and looking at pictures from dad's wedding. Remember, Brian was coming to get me. He showed at 2 pm.
I won't go into all of it, but we were able to get the LR going again. Interestate Battery was closed, but we did have one battery left at the shop, and it fit! It was off to home I go. I borrowed Nanaws snow shovel. On the way, I noticed Lowes was open. Hah, they will definitely have a shovel. And they did. By now, I was pretty cocky with the Rover. It got me. I pulled and parked into a big drift at Lowes, right on top of a layer of ice. A Hummer pulled me out. The rest of the evening went fine. Plenty of shoveling. One side and a half of the drive, all around Sherrys car and started the sidewalk. I was sweating by the time I was done, and literally had icicles hanging from my hair. That felt weird. I go inside to take a Hot Shower!
Turn on the water and I notice it isn't coming out that fast. And it gets slower. I turn it to cold, nothing. To hot some...then None! Yep, you guessed it. Pipes frozen, but why and where. Our garage door doesnot open except sporadically. I wanted to park in the garage when I got back from taking Sherry so I left the garage doorg openat 5:45 this morning. I didn't close it until 5:00 pm that night. Our water heater is in the garage and we have had temeratures of 0-5 degrees with the windchill. I call Jim, again. He tells me what to do and look for. I am clueless about alot of this stuff and shoot par for the course on this one.
I locate what the problem is. the plastic pipes which run from the water main to the water softener have completely frozen and cracked. I think I have the water turned off, and get a hair dryer as suggested by Jim. Man did that work rather fast. Oh, I didn't have the water turned off. I get a pair of channel locks, get the faucet turning, water slows, I keep turning, water keeps coming, I keep turning, more water...oops! more water coming from the faucet. Well, I'm all done. I call Jim, He's coming over call the Water department. They get here before he does, thank God.
So here I am at Nanaws, for who knows how long. But it's fun. I don't mind it because things can always be worse. And I know in the eternal pictures of things this is just one of lifes lessons that I can already laugh at. To all of you on this wonderful day of Christ's birth, I love you and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
So, I prayed. What did I pray? That we would have a white Christmas, that the trees would be covered, the roofs would be overflowing, and that it would be the biggest snowfall since the Blizzard of '78. You may ask why I would want this. I have a couple reasons, one I was only 4 years old when the last one hit, and I don't remember it. Second, I love the beatiful snow. I love what it makes us do when we find we aren't in control. That we have to depend on each other. We are not alone in this world, though so many of us live like we are. Yesterday I was struck by the hundreds of people stopping to help. It gives me hope that maybe we aren't all the self-centered uncaring individuals I was beginning to believe our country was turning into. We do care about others.
Sherry and I awoke yesterday morning at 4:30 am. Since those babies don't care if there is a snow storm and come whenever they are ready, Sherry had to go to work, if at anyway possible. And being the discerning wife she was, she suggested I bring home a Land Rover from work. A very wise decision and suggestion on her part. The plan: I would drive her to and from work. The snow was up to the back of our sliding glass window(which has a step up to it) and over our porch out front. Our backyard is one Big pool of snow, I have pictures you may be interested in seeing. We left in the Rover at 5:45 to make sure we get Sherry to the Hospital by 6:45. Oh yeah I almost forgot. We prayed in the LR right before we left that we would make it safely to the Hospital and then from the Hospital to the Gas station(we had less than an 1/8 of a tank).
We layed the first tracks down our street with no problems. This SUV is unstoppable if you don't hit ice. We knew it was bad when we got to the intersection at Oak Grove and Libbert and looked to the right where we usually go. We could see 3-4 cars stranded. To the leftt it was! Then on Bell road South of the Lloyd there was a semi jack-knife and stuck. In all, I know I saw more than 50 cars stuck throughout the day. But we made it safely to the Women's Hospital(WH). Next, to the gas station!
I was planning on filling up and going back to the WH to see if I could help pick up and deliver nurses and doctor's who couldn't make it in. I also wanted to got to Walmart to pick up some things, mainly a snow shovel. God had different plans. I got to the Moto Mart on Lloyd and Burkhardt with no problem and filled up. After paying, I get in to start the LR and.....Nothing! absolutley no cranking and a little ticking. Uh oh! And of course, we don't own a cell phone. I try a few times, give up and go inside to call my Stepfather, Jim, at 7 am. Remember I prayed that I would get safely to the gas station and, well, I did. I know from now on to pray to the end.
Jim came to pick me up 1/2 hour to 45 minutes later. But first we had to move the LR which was blocking the gas pumps. We strapped it up, I was in the LR to steer, Jim was in his 4WD Chevy to drag me. Off we went... about 3 feet and SNAP went the strap! Luckily it was long enough to hand tie. After, getting caught up in some snow a couple times, Jim was able to sling me into a drift on the side of Moto out of the way. Across the street we go to Walmart, open 24 hours a day and even on some holidays. You can't fail with the big ol' blue all-in-one store. I mean where else can you get an oil change, a change of clothes, a filet mignon, a CD, make vacation plans and a snow shovel. I hate the long lines and droves of people, but we do live in a lazy convenient world, and I do partake. Oh wait, they were closed! Really? uhm yeah! I did hear someone at Moto say Schnucks was opening at 8 am. Off to Schnucks!
We were the first ones there. I got everything on Sherry's list. But guess what wasn't on the list, a snow shovel, didn't matter they didn't have one anyways. We drive back to Newburgh and on the way we stop and help push out 2 or 3 cars. On the off chance they are open, we go by True Value Hardware store in Newburgh. YES! But no shovel. Man, teaches me to procrastinate. Jim takes me home and we make a few phone calls. He to Nanaw, me to Brian, the Bossman. This is around 9-9:15. I try calling 2-3 times, no luck. I then call Justin a tell him to Text message Bri. In the mean time, Jim talks to Nanaw, and finds she needs to pick up the Ham at Heavenly Ham. They are open, off we go. We stop again and help some more people. The Christmas ham is had without incedent all the way to Nanaws. So we wait. Finally I get a call from Brian at 10:30 am. He will come pick me up, must be the battery. Yes we did try jumping it- too dead.
Jim picks up mom and they come back over. By now I am pretty hungry, I haven't eaten yet today. Since we have plenty and Christmas dinner tomorrow is in question, I am allowed to have a ham sandwich. Mmm Mmm good, it is quite heavenly. I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with Mom, Jim and Nanaw. We sat around with the Weather channel on talking and looking at pictures from dad's wedding. Remember, Brian was coming to get me. He showed at 2 pm.
I won't go into all of it, but we were able to get the LR going again. Interestate Battery was closed, but we did have one battery left at the shop, and it fit! It was off to home I go. I borrowed Nanaws snow shovel. On the way, I noticed Lowes was open. Hah, they will definitely have a shovel. And they did. By now, I was pretty cocky with the Rover. It got me. I pulled and parked into a big drift at Lowes, right on top of a layer of ice. A Hummer pulled me out. The rest of the evening went fine. Plenty of shoveling. One side and a half of the drive, all around Sherrys car and started the sidewalk. I was sweating by the time I was done, and literally had icicles hanging from my hair. That felt weird. I go inside to take a Hot Shower!
Turn on the water and I notice it isn't coming out that fast. And it gets slower. I turn it to cold, nothing. To hot some...then None! Yep, you guessed it. Pipes frozen, but why and where. Our garage door doesnot open except sporadically. I wanted to park in the garage when I got back from taking Sherry so I left the garage doorg openat 5:45 this morning. I didn't close it until 5:00 pm that night. Our water heater is in the garage and we have had temeratures of 0-5 degrees with the windchill. I call Jim, again. He tells me what to do and look for. I am clueless about alot of this stuff and shoot par for the course on this one.
I locate what the problem is. the plastic pipes which run from the water main to the water softener have completely frozen and cracked. I think I have the water turned off, and get a hair dryer as suggested by Jim. Man did that work rather fast. Oh, I didn't have the water turned off. I get a pair of channel locks, get the faucet turning, water slows, I keep turning, water keeps coming, I keep turning, more water...oops! more water coming from the faucet. Well, I'm all done. I call Jim, He's coming over call the Water department. They get here before he does, thank God.
So here I am at Nanaws, for who knows how long. But it's fun. I don't mind it because things can always be worse. And I know in the eternal pictures of things this is just one of lifes lessons that I can already laugh at. To all of you on this wonderful day of Christ's birth, I love you and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
posted by JC Boggeman | 6:18 AM
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