Waist Deep in Snow!

Wow! Everyone in Nishiokoppe wants to know how much snow Juneau gets. We always explain that we get a fair amount, but thanks to the rain, it doesn't hang out very long. They then describe how much Nishokoppe gets. Until Monday, I didn't really take them seriously. Monday morning I woke up as usual, got ready for work, and went to warm up the car. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the snow piled up against the door to our glassed in room. I swear it was at least two feet deep. I wondered if I would be able to open it. Gingerly, I pushed on the door and it mercifully opened up, pushing the powder-light snow out of the way. At first glance, I thought that maybe the snow had simply drifted against the house. A second look told me that I was very, very wrong. I looked around our front yard in amazement. Our front yard, that Aaron had been judiciously shoveling at least twice every day for a week, was buried in deep snow. I picked up a shovel, and, wearing my coat, gloves, and skirt with long underwear underneath, I naively began trying to shovel a path to the car. No such luck. Within seconds, my skirt was crusted with snow and I could see I needed help.

I clomped back inside calling for Aaron with what was I'm sure a rather pathetic tone. "I can't get to the car," I whined. Always my knight in shining armor, Aaron pulled on his clothes and geared up for some shoveling. He waded into the whiteness and began to try to move as much as possible. Through the window, I saw him speak to a neighbor walking down the street. This conversation was shortly followed by Aaron's return to the house with the news that school had been cancelled. I quickly called Kurata and determined that there would indeed be no school. Teachers, however, still had to come, but not until nine. So, I decided I would spend the day at the Yakuba and save myself from having to drive anywhere. I changed clothes and helped Aaron shovel snow for a bit. I love our house, but I think we may have the most shoveling of any private home in the village. Our driveway is long, we have a large parking pad, and our meters for electricity, water, and propane are all located in different places. It's important to keep a path cleared to each meter, to the propane tanks in back, and alongside the garage so the sides don't buckle in any more than they already have. What that means is that we can't get away with only shoveling a path to the door and the driveway. If we don't keep up with the shoveling, it could pose very serious problems. We cook with propane, and it wouldn't take long for the tanks to become completely buried if we don't constantly keep them cleared. Oh...I say we, but what I really mean is Aaron. He is really shouldering the majority of the shoveling work, for which I am extremely grateful.

Finally, I crossed the street and went to work about 9:30. Poor Aaron was faced with a day full of shoveling and childcare, since the pre-school called to say they would be closed as well. I felt a little guilty, since I would simply be sitting at my desk writing emails, posting blog entries, and writing Christmas cards. I have no planning that I need to do and I can't handle studying Japanese all day. But, work is where I was supposed to be, so that is where I went.

When I went home, I was met with a wonderful surprise - a front-end loader was in our front yard! As I approached the house, I could see that Ruya's father was the operator. For reason's unknown, our neighbor was using his heavy equipment on our drive. I was so excited I started clapping while smiling wildly at Ruya's mother who was standing nearby with a shovel. Between our two neighbors and Aaron, the drive and the front parking pad were cleared in about ten minutes. As Ruya's father is an equipment operator, Aaron is thinking that he drove the front-end loader home for lunch and was clearing driveways in our neighborhood on his lunch break. I can hardly believe it!

Here are some shots of the snow and of Ridge standing waist deep in the snow. He really wanted to shovel, of all things. There's also a short movie clip of the snow blowing, which I took looking out of a window on the second floor of the Yakuba, across the hall from my office.
Ridge in the Snow
Blowing snow as seen through a window
A view of the Yakuba parking lot, a.k.a. snow storage
Our house from the second floor of the Yakuba

Lastly, here are three pictures of our street just to give you some perspective. First, one from this summer, then one from the first snowfall, then one from Monday.