Monday was so peaceful—the proverbial “calm before the storm.” Actually, the weather puppets were fear-fogging first thing, but since I was out the door at 4:30 am to go swimming, I paid them no mind.

In our age of social media, things like snow events, major storms, and certainly, blizzards of “historic proportions,” all have a tendency to go viral. I tried to steer clear of Twitter and Facebook, but I couldn’t help taking a peak at the Twitterverse late in the day, as I was wrapping up my workday from home.

Posting about snow and snowstorms is something I’ve done on several occasions. During Snowpocalype 2013, I actually took the JBE on the road and provided live storm reports out in the elements. I won’t be doing that during this storm. Being out on the roads with people who have no sense about how to drive in snow, with whiteout conditions, which are likely to occur, isn’t worth the trouble.

January is considered one of the winter months in Northern New England. It snows in the winter. And sometimes it snows more than a few inches.

According to my new online, go-to, meteorological guide, WEATHER without the hype., at least the snow will be light and fluffy. That’s good, because shoveling 20+ inches of snow makes my back, hips, and knees cranky.

What always baffles me with these weather events is, beyond the initial “okay, we’re going to have a major snowstorm and here are the details” news coverage, is the incessant over-reporting—people standing out in snow drifts with rulers, measuring two inches of snow; the ubiquitous shot of a reporter standing somewhere near a turnpike exit, showing us it’s snowing, telling drivers to stay off the roads; hour-after-hour of sweater-clad talking heads, saying nothing new, for 12, 18, up to 24 hours, and even beyond.

I did make sure to fill the wood box, so I won’t have to dig my fuel out during the blizzard. I have milk and bread, along with other foods, too!

Stay safe, and stay sane!

Updates:

7:57 am

Wind is howling. Took my first shift behind my snow scoop. Already 5-6 inches on the ground, of fluffy, drifting snow. Of course, 5 minutes after coming in the house, the path is already filling in with new snow, along with the drifting variety.

First shift shoveling.

9:00 am

Snow drifting up against our deck door and winds are picking up. I found this story interesting re: NYC and their less than predicted snow amounts. A meme is developing via social media, “blaming” meteorologists for getting forecast wrong. This why much of the rest of the country hates you, the narcissism and arrogance that is wrapped up in your “it’s not bad here, and we don’t care about you” attitude. Here in New England, it appears to be exactly as forecast.

1:30 pm

Snow continues piling up. The local weather puppets keep talking about “bands of heavy snow,” and that appears to be what we’re experiencing. Right now, I’d estimate that we’re in the 16-18 inch category for snow accumulation.

Snow piling up against our deck door.

The wind, somewhere in the 35-40 mph range, is piling up drifts everywhere, including up against our deck door, at the back of the house (which faces the south).

I’ve now been out twice to clear a path to the car, and on this last time out, clear off the deck and out cellar entrance. I’m sure I’ll have at least two more sessions of shoveling aerobics to complete. Great exercise, and thank god I’m in shape!

Who is that masked man?

4:45 pm

Darkness is falling on the compound. After a Herculean effort, the third time I’ve been out today, pushing around the snow and piling it higher and higher, it’s impossible to stay ahead of a blizzard and snowfall coming down at a rate of two inches an hour.

For all the hoopla made about social media and weather apps for your phone, there’s no app that clears a path from my house to the cars in my driveway. And as far as I know, Larry Emerson, our plow guy, doesn’t do Twitter. What Emerson does, and there are countless working-class heroes like him, is manage to piece together a fleet of older-model pick-ups and one-ton trucks because he learned how to fix things and do things with his hands.

For 20 years, pretty much as long as we’ve lived here, he’s kept our 300 foot driveway clear, and allowed both Mary and I to get out to jobs that allow us to keep a roof over our heads.

Technology won’t save us. In fact, it helps the fear-foggers, like Todd Guttner, who during the WCSH-6 news at noon, tried to scare the shit out of his viewers with some crap that he was “watching a model” indicating that winds, even inland where we live, were likely to reach speeds in excess of 50 mph, and that this would likely cause widespread power outages. He was the only one passing off lies and fear, masquerading as meteorology. Sarah Long, on WMTW-8, and later, Roger Griswold offered updates on the storm—neither of them parroting the “big wind” meme that was going to huff and puff, and blow our trees down, taking down the power lines with them.

I know what the trees look like, swaying in the distance, at 50+ mph. We never got above 30-35 for sustained wind speeds, and perhaps there were a few gusts in excess of 40.

Miss Mary dressed for the elements.

The power’s still on. Both Mary (who took a turn out in the elements, clearing off the deck and back of the house) and I were able to have a hot shower after our bout with snow and cold, and the lights are now trimmed and burning brightly. I’m typing what will be my final update of the Blizzard of 2015.

It’s still snowing, and the winds are still whipping about, but the worst seems to be behind us. Yes, we’ll have some serious shoveling to do in the morning to get out the door and clear a path out to the cars, not to mention pushing two feet of snow off their roofs, as well as clearing away the deep drifts surrounding them.

Larry Emerson will likely be back at some point during the night, after going home and doing some maintenance to his truck between plows. And at some point on Wednesday, the sun will come out again, and we’ll have survived another major winter snowstorm, just like we have countless times before.