And the fire inside is our spiteful, aching muscles — from shoveling and plowing tons and tons of heavy snow that fell nearly nonstop for a day and a half.
Damn, we hate winter.
All that snow came after a week and a half when it was too cold to snow and we went around with two-story goosebumps, mumbling dark oaths .
All that snow also came after many previous, less-dramatic storms that dumped one to four inches at a time.
Hate it, hate it, hate it.
Since the temperature hasn’t edged above freezing for weeks, the effect has been cumulative. As a result, we’re running out of places to shovel and blow the horrible white stuff to.
And tomorrow, we have to be up and out well before dawn to drive our better half to work. Well, attempt driving her to work, anyway, because the goat trail that runs past our home looks like the scene of a major avalanche.
Good grief, how we hate winter — especially this winter.
If you wonder why our posting has been less frequent lately, blame it mostly on winter, on coping with all the snow. It’s not just that, though. Everything but slipping and falling is more difficult and takes more time in winter. There’s no such thing as a quick trip to the store or anywhere else. You have to bundle up, warm the vehicle up, slip, slide and skid your way there behind people scared to death and driving 7 mph.
Winter is a hateful waste of time, waste of expensive gasoline, waste of heat — waste of everything.
OK, we know what you’re thinking. No matter how bad it is here at Oh!pinion headquarters, it was like 85 below at some God-forsaken outpost in northern Minnesota last night. And they had probably 29 inches of snow in East Jesus, Neb. last night, bringing the total on the ground to 109 inches, or some such.
Yeah, no matter how obscenely awful it is here, there’s always somewhere that makes this look tame.
We don’t flippin’ care. This is our lousy snow, ice and bone-chilling cold, and going on about it gives us a chance to vent. Think of it as good therapy.
We hate winter, hate snow and ice, hate freezing wind, hate pregnant, leaden skies, hate ice-crusted windshield wipers that don’t work, hate wet boots and gloves, hate screaming-sore muscles.
Did we mention there’s two more inches of snow in the forecast tonight and in the morning, then two or three more the following day, and that there’s snow in the forecast every day this week?
We hate this sooo bad! We hate this with an abiding passion.
Arrrggghhh!
C’mon, SW tell how you really feel. I probably shouldn’t mention our beautiful sunny, blue sky, day here in the southland. The jonquils, forsythia, and flowering quince have buds ready to bloom in the next few days.
On days like today I have to remind myself that the “big one” – the blizzard of ’93 – came on March 13.
I hope better days are coming soon out there at Oh!pinion HQ.
Had to rub it in, jonquil buds and all, didn’t you? Remember, “grrr” rhymes with “brrr.” (grin)
I tried to think of something pithy and trenchant, but failed. I don’t really like winter either. And you’re so right: knowing that others have it worse doesn’t help a bit. As for people in the Southland with their sunny blue skies…[fie!]…it’s for people like you that we invent parables about how we enjoy the contrast of the seasons and how it leads us to enjoy the Spring and Autumn so much more than you ever could.
I enjoyed your writing in this piece so much I had to orally interpret it for MY better half. This post is an example of why I so enjoy reading Oh!pinion. Not only do you often enlighten and provoke, you can turn a phrase.
And yes, I had to rub it in.