Friday, February 11, 2005

Cup 72: Snowbound


snowbound
Originally uploaded by matt_leclair.
Where: Home, Orono
When: 8 am, Feb 11
Who: Dot & Dash
Coffee: Port City India Malabar
Mood: awestruck

It never stopped snowing. It just keeps falling and falling. I was up shoveling it before I had my first cup of coffee. I wanted something to look forward to. Not that there is really any point to shoveling when it is snowing this hard still. I brought the snowblower out for this one. I like to shovel by hand usually, but with this much snow... Still, even with the snowblower it is still a task. The snow is deeper than the snowblower is tall, so I can only do a little at a time, back up, do a little more. I clear enough snow away so that if we need to escape, we can. The snow was not only blocking the cars, it was holding the doors to the house shut.

I'm sore and tired from shoveling, but still, when I pause and ignore the pain in the neck that this is going to be to clean up, I am awestruck. The whole state has been cancelled. All the schools are closed, even the University, which never closes for anything. Every even that was scheduled has been postponed. They didn't even pickup the trash today. So there's no traffic, not even the distant sound of it. The snow plows, usually so good about keeping Orono's streets clean, haven't been able to keep up with this onslaught. It is like the world is being erased. The snow clings to everything, burying the cars and streets, turning the trees and houses white, and everything is quieter and quieter and the snow keeps on falling and falling and as it does the world becomes less detailed. Soon it will be a blank page, ready to start again.

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