The Monday After!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it many more times: With all the problems it can create, Nature can be beautiful. And so it is with our weekend storm. Maine is beautiful this morning with all that fresh, white snow. Some places got up to a foot and a half. Our little area got close to a foot. I think Christmas will be white this year.

Today is a tough one for many folk. Yards still need cleaning, yet jobs, some of which had late beginnings today, still call employees. So it is in our little Gatorland. Neighbor Ed has done a superior job of helping us out from this storm. He put a little extra effort into plowing our yard, but Gator Wife had to go to her part time job this morning, so she’s facing porch and deck shoveling when she gets home late this morning.

Gator Golden would love it if we would spend the whole day outside with her. (Although the post was written a couple hours ago, I waited until the sun came out for the pictures.)

I offered last evening to go out on my tractor/snow blower today to help her out, but she insists I adhere to a milder routine ordered by my cardiologist following a heart procedure last week. I can’t find the words to describe how badly I feel having to have her do all the outside work. After all, like me she long ago crossed over that age 65 threshold. I want desperately to help her; I want desperately to live.

Wow! How’d I get off on that morbid track? Switch has been thrown and we’re back on the right track. Sorry about that.

Those little storm announcements at the bottom of the TV screen are interesting this morning. Many schools, including most of the Greater Portland area, are closed today. One district is opening two hours late this morning, and another had made no announcements as of 6 AM. An interesting part of the school situation is most of the York County schools are on a two-hour delay and many of the highest snowfall totals this morning were in York County.

A large number of businesses and government offices, including the State Government, are delaying opening this morning.

GW called to let me know she had arrived safely at her work place and said the roads weren’t too bad, but the parking lot where she works is a glare of ice. Of course she only has to drive about a mile and a half.

I’m in a little quandary this morning, especially after GW said the roads weren’t too bad. I’m not supposed to drive until tomorrow, but today I have to get a blood test because of last week’s procedure. Unless I get the draw this morning, the doctor won’t get the results until tomorrow. So, my quandary is to either drive the short distance to the blood place this morning or wait until this afternoon and have GW drive me in her all-wheel drive car.

While writing that, Gator Daughter called to tell me she had gotten to her work place safely, too. She advised me to wait until tomorrow for the blood draw, or at least until GW could take me this afternoon and let the doctor get the results overnight. I think that’s now my plan of action. So cancel the quandary.

It looks like the Patriots and the Playoffs come down to one game. In order for the Pats to get into the playoffs, they must beat Buffalo next week and the Jets must beat the Dolphins. That would give the Pats the division title. If Miami beats the NY Jets, it’s all over for this season.

Be careful out there today.

GiM