Snow Moon

Tonight I watched the nearly full moon rise in the sky as the sun set. In the northern hemisphere the February full moon is called the "Snow Moon, Hunger Moon and Wolf Moon".

I made the last leg of my trip today. I landed in Portland last night and stayed at the hotel where I had left my car. After stocking up on groceries I headed out into the gorge. The road was free of ice, although all the trees and signs were coated with a thick layer.

At home a 1/2 inch of ice had fallen in the night  on top of a layer of snow. Jeff said he would plow so that the road would be clear by the time I arrived. However, when I turned onto our road I could see that it hadn't been plowed and I wondered why? It was a rough go and very icy. I wasn't too worried about sliding off as the banks on both sides of the road are at least 3 feet high. I managed to make it 1 1/4 miles to the bottom of our drive where I was met with a mound of snow that I couldn't get over in my car. 

The truck had gotten stuck in the ice and snow and Jeff was digging out. Fortunately, I carry boots and my Kahtoola Microspikes in my car. I changed out of my dress shoes, grabbed a shovel and began shoveling beside Jeff until we could clear out enough snow to move our vehicles. There were intermittent breezes that knocked the snow and ice off the trees. The clumps of ice would clatter as they hit the ground and then careened wildly down the ice covered hills. 

Jeff then plowed out to the highway and back; and as he completed the route, one of the chains snapped and cut the brake line on the truck! Tomorrow a tow truck will arrive and haul the the truck the 20 miles to the auto repair shop. Oy, what a winter this has been! 

It's great to be back home, despite all snow, road conditions and plowing issues!