Given that we here at the Confusion Factory are now laboring under a Blizzard Warning, we had one more go at trying to move the snow off the roof of the deck. This method involved affixing a plastic jug half-filled with water to 100 feet of rope, whaling the jug over the snow peak on the roof (it was gratifying to find that, after a couple a false starts, that I still have my throwing arm), and then dragging it back through, thereby breaking up the snow and allowing it to Fall. Off. The. Damn. Roof.
This actually worked. To a point. Not, alas, to a useful point, and there were those long minutes during which it looked like we were not going to be able to retrieve our instruments. We finally achieved that, and it must be said that some snow did come off the roof during the recovery process. A great deal of it fell down inside my Number Two Jacket (the one without the hood) and into my only pair of Real Winter Gloves. My blue sweater was roundly soaked, as well. On the other hand, the new boots kept my feet dry, and my purple striped Smartwool ski socks kept them warm.
During this frenzy of activity, we flushed a turkey out from beneath the deck. A rather skinny turkey, I’m sorry to say.
We did have a nice, sunny day to work in, though there was a sharp breeze that brought the balmy 9F/-13C down to -10F/-23C.
Well. It is winter, after all.
The blizzard, by the way — we’re under a Blizzard Warning, which is what started all this — is supposed to start tomorrow-Saturday, noon-ish and blow itself out by Monday morning, around 7 a.m., after having dumped 18-24 inches of snow on top of the 40 or so inches already covering the landscape.
At this point, we’re just going to have to hope that Todd built the deck roof out of titanium.
Trooper and Sprite showed moral support for our efforts against the weather by staying inside and making sure that the blue chair didn’t make a break for it while our attention was elsewhere.
And that turkey thought it was SAFE.