snowed in!

we awoke this morning to the biggest snowfall we ever remember here in boulder. it's fantastical! with snowdrifts reaching halfway up our doors. on first measurement, we were at 18 inches with seven hours still to go before the storm was predicted to move on.

tonight's headlines read:

denver weather: storm moves away leaving frigid temperatures, huge snow behind. the highest snow totals have been in the foothills of boulder (that's us!!) where amounts approached 3 feet in some areas. (that's us!!) second most snow on record in boulder in november. (wowza!)

paul also heard we hit a record - boulder's largest snowfall ever recorded in twenty-four hours! so whoa, it's been quite a day! we knew the storm was on its way and joined the rest of boulder last night for a quick stock up at costco for food and gas as we expected everything and everywhere to be either canceled or closed today. the timing is causing havoc as thanksgiving travelers, including us, had the choice to either postpone travel plans for later in the week or scurry on their way last night to beat the storm. we heard southwest airlines was phoning their tuesday passengers encouraging them to quickly head to the airport to take monday night flights out of denver instead. our plans were to drive to utah today but no way. our road never saw a snowplow but we're hoping the knights in snowplow armor clear our way overnight for an early morning departure.

my knight in snowplow armor spent the entire morning, then afternoon, then evening clearing paths. he began with a snow shovel just to get out the door, then threw that aside and fired up the snowblower. the snowblower cleared the path to the driveway then he threw that aside and climbed into his snowplow. the snowplow struggled but finally was able to clear our front drive and make a path down the driveway so he could head off and help our neighbors. it wasn't long before he realized he was going to have to bring out the big guns - his front loader tractor! i mean we are talking serious snow. i saw him for a few minutes this afternoon but he's out again clearing paths in the dark and cold.

i refilled the squirrel bird feeder yesterday knowing it would be a rough day today for the birds and have loved watching the goings on out there all day (i mean there really wasn't much else to do, oh i did make soup and warm bread for dinner). we delightfully had our regular chickadee, blue jay and woodpecker visitors but they always have to dodge the very selfish squirrels for the pickings. they make me so mad. why can't they just appreciate the squirrel table where i regularly put crusts and mouldy bread out for them and leave the birdseed alone? through the years, i have not only tried numerous types of squirrel-proof bird feeders to foil them, with no luck, but also hung the bird feeders in incredibly difficult, i-am-so-clever-there-is-no-way-they-can-reach-this locations. but do you know how smart squirrels are? it's like they call a meeting when they see i've concocted a birdfeeder challenge for them gathering to discuss the data they've collected from observing the birdfeeder from different angles, above, below, from this branch, from that branch. then they stand there thinking calculating the angles, obstacles, surfaces, etc. etc. and they always figure it out. it's incredible. it wouldn't surprise me a bit if i saw one pull out a slide rule one day. so, i've basically given up and just hang the birdfeeders where its easiest for me to reach and refill, refill, refill........

*update: it is now nighttime, the sky is clear and filled with stars. paul is home and cold and exhausted but filled with heartwarming snowplow stories. he was able to help our elderly neighbor who was worried because he wasn't able to get in touch with his wife today. she is in the hospital with a broken hip and he wanted to visit her but couldn't get out of the driveway. he was only armed with a snow shovel so paul was able to clear his driveway, dig out his car, get it going and send him on his way. 

i also got a text from my friend down the road asking me to thank paul for coming their way. i text her back thanking her for letting me know where he was! it turns out their daughter, one of gabi's best friends, is flying home from her school in arizona tonight for thanksgiving. their snowblower is broken so she and her husband were out with snow shovels trying to clear their long driveway so they could get to the airport to pick up their daughter. thank you paul, you truly are a knight in snowplow shining armor.

Love is never wasted,

for its value does not

rest upon reciprocity.

                        

                               - C.S. Lewis