First big snowstorm of the season :o(

This morning, as I groggily (and vey reluctantly I should say) got out of bed, I was greeted by the first major snowstorm of the 2005-06 season.

It started somewhere between 5:30-6:00 AM and snowed at a good clip for most of the day. I'd say southern New Hampshire/northeastern Massachusetts got between 12-15" of the white stuff. During the early afternoon the snow was really falling hard and fast. So hard in fact that I got let out of work four hours early, at 2 PM. The highways were a mess, back roads were worse and the visibility was next to nothing in the white out conditions I faced on my ride home. This 3.2 mile commute normally takes me 7 minutes. This afternoon it took close to 25 minutes.

As I was leaving work I called my ex and volunteered to meet her halfway with the kids. Normally she'd drop them off at my apartment sometime after 6 PM. But I didn't want her to drive all the way today becasue the roads were horrible as the plow crews were just getting started on the serious cleanup. Seriously, I could have taken the easy way out - and wanted to - letting her do all of the driving and taking all of the risk. But that's not what I'm all about. Really.

It must have ended around 3:00 PM or so, because when she called around 4:00 it had stopped snowing and the sky was a clear blue, with those wispy clouds that you often see on a warm summer day. And as a bonus a minor winter sunset was beginning to form on the horizon. So driving to meet her wasn't as bad as it could have been, fortunately.

A's landscaping company does the plowing for my company. This contract was in effect, a reward for the great job they did reworking the landscaping this past summer and re-claiming the surprisingly large lawn outside the mirrored windows that I look out of every day from two-foot tall weeds, crabgrass and who knows what else. If you've read my earlier posts, you'd know that A is my little bro, and I recommended his company to the powers-that-be that he be hired to oversee and do the job. Resulting in, as I knew there would be, compliments to A and his crew and to me for the recommendation because I knew what good work he does.

Anyway, A brought both of his trucks out in the mid-morning, when we had maybe four inches maximum on the ground. He was back hard at work with both of his trucks plowing away when I came out of the building at 2:00 to begin the process of unburying my van.

All day I wondered how my blogger friends in Texas would deal with the snow. Considering that in the Dallas area, schools let out early on Wednesday for a bit of snow and icy roads and cancelled school altogether on Thursday for a minimal amount of snow, which for me, a hardy lifelong (but reluctant) New Englander is nothing. For folks in the warmer parts of the country, snow must be a great hassle for two main reasons: a) you're probably not used to getting very much snow and b) the lack of major snow removal equipment (plows, sanding trucks, etc.).

But feel not bad folks, because I envy your warm(er) weather this time of year and would gladly trade places with you so I can get out of the cold. I AM NOT a fan of winter AT ALL. I say snow for Christmas is fine. But bring on spring as soon as Christmas is over, because I can't wait for the unofficial beginning of spring (when pitchers and catchers report to FL and AZ for Spring Training.)

If any of you, my Texas blogger friends, are reading this - can you relate to me exactly how much snow you got this week? I'm curious and would appreciate the information.