Until a couple of days ago I was constantly complaining about how little snow we’ve had so far this season. We’ve been in a major snow drought since October. Whine, whine, whine, whine….DUMP!! Our snow drought is over. It is violently over. We needed a snow globe refill and we got the six-pack. All in one night.

The snow globe has been refilled.

Driving home Thursday evening was a bit grim—blizzard-like conditions—but only a few inches had fallen so far. It was still coming down at a furious rate when we went to bed. We prepared for a power outage—wood, flashlights, water, and lantern all conveniently situated. But by morning the power was still on. The snow had slowed down to almost nothing, with 11 inches on top of the 2-3 inches we’d had over the previous couple days. But the winds were picking up and more snow was forecast.

Some days you have to sing high praises for the science fiction world we live in. At least that’s what I was thinking as I fired up the snowblower. Back in the days when I was immortal and was married to a champion snow shoveler, this massive amount of snow would have just been a fun couple of days’ work. But immortality was not to be, and its opposite visits all too regularly in the form of aches and pains that take longer to go away. Marriage is still great, but former champion snow shovelers have other priorities now and don’t need to re-live their glory days. So, yeah, long live snowblowers.

And man, we had a workout. Twenty-six times up and down the driveway. A record. Two shear pins gone. Around four total hours of snow clearing. I’d never seen so many of our neighbors at once—all at the ends of their driveways moving snow in every way possible. The days are so short, and you need to move snow while the sun shines.

Cooking dinner during a power outage.

The winds picked up as the day waned, and the power went out at dark. The wood stove was going, and we didn’t have any trouble converting our dinner plans to an indoor camping event. We cooked soup on the stovetop and had a weiner roast with improvised weiner-roasting sticks. There was still cold beer in the fridge, so we had all the essentials. The power came on again for a few hours later in the evening, but then went out again all night. You sure sleep well after a day like that, and the power is back on, so all is well for closing out 2016.

Our seasonal vehicle resting for the season.

(P.S. Fun fact: This post’s title creates yet another verbal milestone on the internet. You’re welcome.)