Winter, Winter, Go Away . . .

. . . And don’t come back another day!  Here at the Hustad household, we love a good snowy winter just as much as the next guy but this is getting ridiculous.  For those non-Bismarkonians, did you know that in the month of December here in Bismarck we recorded a record snowfall? Ever in history? 33 inches in one month to be exact. Can I say it again? More snow in the month of December THAN EVER BEFORE. On a positive note, Chris has gotten a lot of use out of his 4 wheeler. Honestly, we bought that thing two winters ago and the first winter we had it, we did not use it to push snow once. This winter, I think Chris is having a fun time rubbing it in my face what a grand purchase this was.

So as March rolls around and there is no sign of spring in sight, I was thinking back over this past year of all the funny/annoying/problematic occurrences at our house because of this snowy winter.

Of course we were snowed in many times. Chris would get on the 4 wheeler and push us out. Over the course of the winter the driveway started shrinking. Pretty soon, you could barley fit one vehicle down it.  Chris tried so hard to push the snow further to the sides of the driveway but it was so compact, he actually snapped the line on his blade on the ATV 3 or 4 times (I’ve lost track).  One rememberable time was a day in January when I didn’t even make it to work until late afternoon. Chris’s ATV couldn’t even get through the drifts, they were taller than him on the machine. So, he had to go over to our neighbor’s house and borrow their snow blower to blow some of the snow before he could get his 4 wheeler through it. I think he was out there for something like 5 hours.

Yesterday I let the dogs out the front door to go potty, because for the millionth time this winter the back deck was drifted in again so we can’t open the patio door. The snow was so deep Mia just pooped on the front steps. In her defense, I watched her try to make it through the tall snow, but she kept getting stuck, so I think she just gave up. Sophie barked at her the entire time, as if to say “you don’t poop on the steps dummy!”

I guess the only benefits to the snow are that our grass and trees will sure look great this spring from all the moisture, and Wyatt really loves to go outside and “kick a snow” and “climb a mountain”. Yes we have what we fondly call “snow mountain” in our front yard. It’s taller than our house and I’m sure will take weeks to melt once it warms up. I also fear a flood.  Maybe now we know why our house has not one, but two sump pumps in the basement.  Chris and I always scoffed at the builders. “You don’t need sump pumps in Bismarck. Silly builders.” Hmmm, maybe not so silly now?

One weekend my parents were out visiting and my dad thought he’d try to tackle our driveway. A blade on a pickup wouldn’t cut it, a bobcat was no good, so he drove a backhoe to our house. That’s right, a backhoe was what it took to widen our drive wider than 4 feet. He did this for at least 3 hours. Wyatt got to ride along for a while, so it was all good. If he hadn’t have come that weekend, our driveway would be 6 inches wide, and I may have had Brooklyn in a bathtub here at home. (Yuck, I would’ve walked to the hospital before that happened.)

Eating snow is kindof cute. But Wyatt is obsessed. He’ll, eat it off the bottom of your shoe. I’ve told him it’s dirty and yucky and all that good stuff, but if you know Wyatt at all, you know he forms his own opinions without outside influence.  Remember, Mia is now using the front steps as a potty. Time for you to go, snow!

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