Blizzard

I've been under a blizzard warning since yesterday afternoon, and it remains in effect till midnight tonight. The winds have been a.w.f.u.l (more on those winds in a bit). It looks like I got just an inch or two of snow, but the drifting seems too much for that small amount of snow, so I suspect the wind blew some of it away. So far this morning the wind is not terribly high, but it is picking up. And snow is falling, although not very hard at this time.

Last night, the wind was amazing. The dogs dealt with it pretty well, although sometimes when the gusts hit the house, we all jumped and looked around. Even Jazmyn, my scaredy-cat of a dog, did OK. She wasn't liking it, but she just stayed close to me and dozed most of the evening, and she wasn't quivering, as she usually does when she is scared. Several times the impact of the gusts caused the house to "shiver," something I've not experienced before. Interesting!

I closed the doggy door on the back of the house. The wind was so ferocious that the door was flapping crazily, slapping and snapping, and I began to think it might rip the plastic door apart. I think it was a good move, as there were signs of minor disturbance elsewhere this morning. Through the evening, we heard thumps and bumps, and I was wondering what was blowing around in the yard. I couldn't think of anything to be highly concerned about, so I didn't worry. I had taken down my wind chimes and bird feeders so they wouldn't be damaged, and the few things I could think of that might be blowing around were not important.

Over night the winds calmed down, at least to the point of being non-threatening, and we slept well. When I woke this morning, I got a cup of coffee and crawled back into bed. I knew I wasn't going anywhere today, so no need to rush into anything. I worked several sudokos and watched a touch of morning news, then switched to a sitcom rerun, because that is more palatable than the news. And we just lolled in bed till about 8:30. Felt good, cuddling with my pups, having hot coffee and relaxing.

When I got up I opened the dog door and began doing some morning routine. Probably 30 minutes after rising, I had just turned on the laptop and was about to read and post for a while, when Joey's barking on the front deck began to get on my nerves. I hollered at him "no bark," to which he usually responds right away. But within a few seconds, he was at it again. I hollered again, and it was followed by a few seconds of quiet, then off he went again. I decided I needed to check what he was barking about. There are some dogs that roam around here, and I try to shoo them off so my kids are not agitated by their presence on our property.

As I walked to the door I noted that Joey was running up and down the deck barking at something that was obviously moving in the driveway. I figured I was right about another dog being out there, and when I got to the rail, I saw I was right. The problem is .... it was one of MY DOGS!!  MAX! My eloping, gallivanting little nomad was out of the enclosures!

I quickly checked the gates on the deck and both were closed and latched, and happily, Max came right in when I called him. Whew!! But the relief was short lived, as I realized that he must have gotten out the back gate. Had someone opened my back yard gate AGAIN??? So I tripped out the back door quickly, blocking The Kids in the house. When I looked toward the gate, I expected to see it standing open. But it wasn't. No, it was laying on the ground!!

Apparently, the winds last night lifted the chain link gate off the hinges! What is strange is that it wasn't fully on the ground, because the bungee cord I had around the latch side to be sure the dogs wouldn't bounce on it and rattle it loose, was still attached! Can you imagine? The wind picked up the gate far enough to take it off the hinges, but couldn't undo the bungee cord! Amazing!

I got the gate back on the hinges and everything secured again. I'm wondering if I should put a bungee on the hinge side to keep it from lifting. I'll make a decision in the next while. BUT .... that is not the end of the story!

I came back in the house, and I decided I'd feed the pups. I looked around and noticed I had only four of them! Lawdy mercy, Sam was missing! A quick look into the back yard, then checked out the deck, but he wasn't either place. Fortunately, he is one that will usually come immediately when I call, so I went to the deck, called and whistled, and here he came around the corner of the house. He might have been in the woods, but I suspect he was looking for a way back inside the fence out back. Sam doesn't like to be away from me when we are outside the usual confines of the yard and house. I'm surprised he didn't come in when Max did. I'm not sure why he wasn't with Max earlier, but I'm relieved that he stayed close!

There are a few other things that have been blown around. A big plastic pot, 3-4 gallon size, blew from the front yard to the back. That means it was moved up hill a height of about 20 feet, and around two corners of the house, past the air conditioner! A few things on the deck were moved, too, but no damage that I can see.

Here's the rub .... remember I said the warning remains in effect till midnight? Well, I checked the forecast and the warning update a bit ago, and it has changed from last night. Last night it said that snow accumulation at my altitude (I'm right on the dividing line between two levels, so I never know if I'll get the greater or lesser amount) was between 2-8 inches. Well, it has changed. Here is the current one:

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS 6 TO 12 INCHES ARE LIKELY BELOW 7500 FEET WITH 12 TO 18 INCHES IN THE HIGH TERRAIN. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE LIKELY ALONG PEAKS AND WEST FACING SLOPES.*

The good thing about this is that I'm on an East facing slope!

The other good thing is the dogs are all safe.

The other good thing is that I kept the back door blocked last night.

The good thing is I can stay in today!