Friday, December 26, 2008

Went for a Ride

This drift stands between us and our family Christmas celebration tomorrow.



As you can see here, it starts out at just over door handle level, and goes up from there to the left. It also slopes down the whole width of the driveway, and about the length of the car or more. I have to remove it so I can get the truck out of the garage. I have a shovel. Please send masseur. (Blue-eyed blonde named Sven perhaps?)

First, though, I couldn't resist taking a little ride. It wasn't much of one, but I pulled out the trusty blue plastic sled and rode the length of the drift. Yes, I'm 42, but I still can't resist the call of the sled!

Growing up, we lived a couple of blocks from the park at the edge of the lake/Mississippi, with the perfect sledding hill. There was a steep but short hill, then a wide level spot, then a concrete/stone retaining wall/ledge with a 4-5 foot drop to a stretch of sand/beach, then the edge of the lake. Depending on the prevailing wind of the day, there could be a foot or two of open water before the ice started, or there might be a short wall of ice where the wind had caused it to buckle upward. At one point, though, there was just the hill, then a 2 foot drop to the sand, then a slope to the water's edge. If you got a really good run at it, and with the right snow conditions, you could go down the hill, drop onto the snow-covered sand, and down the slope to the water. You had to judge if you had enough speed to make it over the stretch of water onto the ice. Otherwise, you had to bail out before you hit the water, and then hope your momentum didn't roll you into the water. Good times!

Since we are having Christmas tomorrow, Mom and I just had a quiet day at home yesterday, pretty much like any other day. I had my fiber day! Did some dyeing, some blending on the drum carder, and some spinning. It is gray and foggy so I couldn't get any good pictures of the new batts I made (the photos look gray and foggy), but here is the skein of yarn I will give to my sister (a new knitter!) tomorrow. Assuming I get that drift moved.


3 comments:

cornbread hell said...

i believe that is the prettiest yarn i have ever seen.

Cindy said...

I hope you got out! I do have to say your weather and ours are at opposite ends of the spectrum. You have drifted snow and cold. We have heavy rains (at least 2" so far) and 60F. This has been one strange December. Your sister will LOVE the yarn!

Annie said...

Thanks, Rick.

Yep, made it out. It only took 4 1/2 hours to dig us out. The snow drifted in Christmas night due to ferocious south winds, then Friday was in the 40's from those south winds. Then the winds shifted and it all froze overnight. So there was a thick layer of ice I had to chop through before I could shovel the rest. The tendonitis in my thumbs is back in full screaming force.