Drina, my little agility star

Drina, my little agility star
Drina did everything with flair...

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Pioneers of the Icy Tundra - Tales of Snownami 2011

I've now come to grips with yesterday morning enough to bring it out of my buried unconscious:  Stupidest decision of 2010 has to be deciding to drive my little car to work yesterday since I was too lazy to pull Jeep out of garage Friday night and thought since I was getting home around 11a I'd be okay.  Mmmm....not so much.  Got stuck at work trying to leave but that was fun because 3 of my male co-workers just pushed and away I went.  Drive home I saw lots of stuck people but I chose my paths wisely.  Found that my house was inside a snow oasis that was nearly impossible to penetrate.  Drove around for a while getting stuck here and there until I found a side street that would get to my alley.  Get into the far end of my alley and we are stuck.  Run down entire alley to get my shovel and luckily halfway down someone offers me a shovel and snow blows a little for me.  I got about 1/4 of the way down right away and then we were just done...no more movement.  My little car was acting as a shovel that would push snow in front of it until it was immobile.  I get out, shovel for 5 minutes or so and then move a couple of inches and repeat.  This continues for about an hour and a half and my hair is iced and frozen to my head and my arms and back are screaming from shoveling and I can no longer feel my legs and I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown when 3 saviors come out and push me.  After that it only took about 45 minutes to get down the rest of the alley and into my garage.  My thighs were beet red for over an hour.  I made my heroes some cookies but unfortunately they sucked.  Hopefully it is the thought that counts.  On the bright side, as soon as I showered and got warm I took off again in my most wonderfulest Jeep and had a very enjoyable and productive day of shopping.  I got most of my Christmas shopping done as well as stocked up on groceries.  Only problem was trying to get home because there weren't any highway exits that weren't full of stuck cars and people trying to dig themselves out. 

Then came the moment that all Jeep's dream of...a seemingly impenetrable barrier of snow at the front of our parking spot.  An evil plow beast apparently visited the alley while we were away.  I knew if we didn't get in that I'd have to navigate the complex and dizzying rules of Minneapolis snow emergency law.  That is clearly above my capabilities.  The wall of hard, frozen snow was mid thigh level - much, much higher than my Jeep's wheels.  I spoke with Jeep and told him that all those previous winters were just training for this moment.  There was no room for error and no opportunity to take a run at it.  We had to hit it sideways or die trying.  This was to be our defining moment.  I apologized and confessed how wrong I was for ever trying to sell my brave and precious Jeep.  After figuring out how to get into 4 "low" we girded our loins, took a deep breath and hit the gas.  We smash through the concrete snow wall and spun the tires to get traction and plow into our spot sort of sideways and then breathe a sigh of relief.  We are good and stuck for the first time in Jeep history but that was tomorrow's issue.  For tonight we were safe and sound in our own driveway.

Meanwhile, little blue sits nestled in the garage to slumber until the April thaw.  She was a valiant little car for taking us to and from southern CA safely and getting us out of the Colorado Rockies in a snow storm and now she can take a much needed break until warmer times. 

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