Another Stormwatch

Another snowstorm is moving into my area of northern New Hampshire Monday night through Tuesday. Normally I'd sit it out and only shovel after it's over. That way I don't swear at the snowplow that comes by right after digging the car out.

Unfortunately, I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning so I'm going to get up early and shovel out. It's going to be a slow drive into town. My little car has four good snow tires so I should make it. If you live in serious snow country, don't mess around with all season tires. Go right for the aggressive thread of snow tires. They are more noisy on the highway, but it's a small price to pay.

Predictions are all over the map as I write this. We should get at least eight inches, but could get as much as sixteen. We are right on the heavy snow line so a butterfly sneeze could move the storm one way or the other.

My water line survived the recent sub zero temperatures. More snow on top will provide even more protection from frost.

I feel pretty good about our preparations for the storm. There's fuel for the woodstove. The battery backup for the solar electric is working well. We even had a refrigerator full of left over turkey for quick and satisfying meals. My lovely wife made a good soup stock from the turkey bones and other bits. It slow cooked on the woodstove for hours, filling the house with that wonderful aroma.

On the medical front, my legs are getting better. My right one, the worse one, still hurts a fair bit, but the wound is just about closed. That's progress. I upped my over the counter pain meds to the maximum recommended dosage. It's not like me to take a lot of pain meds, but having the pain under control enough to sleep is critical. Still not getting a full nights sleep, but getting three to four hours in a stretch is better than the one to two I've had to survive on. There's about another week's worth of antibiotics left so hopefully the infection is gone by then.

All in all things are going well enough on the home front. Our winter plans are still up in the air. Much depends on my health. We plan on sticking around until after Christmas at least. It's possible we'll spend the whole winter here. On the other hand, we could decide to leave and be out of here in less than half a day. It's a good feeling to know we have the option.

-Sixbears