fifteen minutes of mantra-filled oompah

November 30, 2010

Winter Wonderland

When I was eight years old, in the winter of 1978-79, I remember the snow being deep enough to wade through at near enough knee height. There was a carpet of crisp, even, white snow all around where I lived in Middlesbrough. In fact, it was so bad that I remember not being able to get to school a couple of days, mostly because all the old oil heated classrooms we were in were way too cold to sit in.  It's never been like that since.

Until the last few days.

It all started for me last Thursday evening, coming home from Durham. I finally managed to get home to Whitby yesterday afternoon, after digging out the car at my parents' house in Easington. It's been a long time since I was shin dep in snow, but I was on Sunday morning. On the high ground there's probably been well over a foot; closer to eighteen inches, I'd be more likely to bet.

Worse still, I didn't get to see Katie at the weekend. The roads through from Stokesley were pretty bad, even with a Grand Vitara (my ex-father in law's). They had a try on Saturday and didn't even set off Sunday. Can't say I blame them. But at least Katie had fun sledging and playing out in the snow at home

Even though the main roads were ploughed and cleaned off, the roads up near my folks' house weren't. It meant my car was not going anywhere in a hurry. The snow was piled everywhere, almost like being in Norway or Finland. It's so weird for it to be this early.

The ride home from Whitby yesterday was, as expected, a mixed one. The main road through (the A174) wasn't that bad at all: passable with a bit of care. Thing got weird when I got home, though. I have to park at the back of my house and get up a bank to do it. I needed help from a neighbour to get the car in.

Thankfully, the snow fall overnight wasn't that bad. So I thought I'd wait a little this morning before setting off for Scarborough. However, as I got to the stretch of road on theA171 between the Ruswarp turn-off and the Flask, the snow came down again, settling on the road and being drifted by the high wind. I looked at me, and a 1.25 litre Fiesta and thought better of it, turning back.

I'm hoping that the roads will be better tomorrow. The forecast is, that's for sure.  Just have to watch for that ice!

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