The Great Freeze of 2021

 Our beloved Pacific Northwest has been under a blanket of snow and freezing temps for over a week.  I have had more snow accumulation here at HH in the past but I don't recall a freeze that has lasted this long.

The snow started before Christmas day, 2021, then there was a break, then we got dumped on Christmas night and then it froze.  Life as we knew it had  come to a halt.  Businesses closed over the next week, highway crews worked around the clock to keep roads open, and we all stayed home and waited it out.

Here at HH I start shoveling snow paths early on and I always take my car down to the entrance of the driveway, because 100 feet of driveway is nearly impossible to clear.

 This was the state of HH early in the week.  Once I had paths clear around the house, to the bird feeder and down the driveway I relaxed a bit, only needing to shovel new snow as it accumulated.

It didn't look too overwhelming after the plow finally got up my road, but they don't keep up on it.  Later a volunteer neighbor was out with his own tractor clearing out driveways and along the road where the plow missed.  What a nice guy!  I thanked him and emailed the development that he should be recognized in our next newsletter.
He even scraped out the snow in front of my car!  This was very helpful as it took the pressure off of me doing it by hand with a snow shovel, and much easier to keep up on.

Days passed and it kept snowing and the temps dropped to unheard of lows - 18 degrees!  Highs of only 23.  That seems more like the weather they get back east.  

Then one day the sun came out!  What a sight, and a relief.  I enjoyed walking around noticing how the tall trees had caught a lot of the snow and the grounds underneath weren't as deep. 
Grateful that it never got really severe, no giant limbs broke, no big winds came up and we had power over the whole week!  Not everyone did.  Other areas experienced outages due to trees falling on lines.

I also kept the greenhouse brushed off as the plastic panels are quite thin and I don't image they could take much snow weight.  

I was very pleased with my firewood storage this year too.  Over the years as snow depths have increased I have come up with more and better ways to protect it.  I use only enough plastic tarps over the top to allow for airflow through two rows of stacked wood.  In the back I've leaned some old fiberglass panels against the wood so the snow doesn't build up there and soak into the wood.  The row also sits about 4 inches above ground on galvanized grids.

The shoveled pathways were my only way to get out and around the house and to the bird feeder. 

Yesterday I needed to refill the woodshed so I just widened the pathway to accommodate my wagon with fat tires.  

So all in all this wasn't a huge drama for this one woman life.  However, I'm on day eight of being stuck here, but that's only because our big hill is frozen over.  Hopefully I'll make it out this week as temps rise.  

This morning's temp of 34 has given me hope that it is going to be over soon. 

While snow is pretty to look at, one must be prepared to hunker down, act responsibly outdoors with adequate warm clothing and know when to go back inside.  Not to mention the preparation that should be done weeks in advance to ensure you have enough food and fuel to stay put.

Edit:  More snow came later, then a lot of rain, then the trees fell over.  Highway 101 was closed in both directions for three days.  Our power lines and trees coming up the hill were blocking the main entrance, everyone was stranded and without power.  Our community really pulled together and helped each other out.  

This was the largest snowstorm I have seen in all my years on the canal since 1994, and definitely the most snow I've had here at HH, 43 inches total, breaking my previous record of 34 or 36.