The winter of 2011 could be considered mild. A couple of snowplow days. Cold weather but not frigid. I shoveled the walkways and paths maybe twice a month.
Last winter there was almost no winter in Vermont. Ray Churchill plowed my "car park" once. I wore my serious winter coat for a few days here and there. I never raked the roof, and I'm not entirely sure that I ever put the snowshoes on. I shoveled the walkways and paths maybe twice.
It's amazing how quickly we can forget what winter is like.
There was snow in Vermont the week I was in Annapolis, enough to guarantee a white Christmas, but not enough to worry about. Then, thoughtfully after my arrival at home, the Big Storm started, and I awoke on December 27 to find close to two feet of snow on the ground. I like shoveling, so I spent a couple of hours moving snow around.
Then it snowed some more. And on December 29 it snowed a lot more, and there was considerable wind during the day, which blew a healthy amount a snow off the roof. January 2 and 4 it snowed some more.
And it was COLD. On Jan 3 the car started (reluctantly) and told me it was -15 degrees. I haven't seen a low temperature like that in years. Friday it warmed up to about 25 degrees - a veritable heat wave. And then the wind started to blow in earnest.
Last night the wind blew and whistled and roared. It rattled the house. It didn't stop blowing until mid-morning today, and I went out to rake the roof, because it's supposed to warm up next week and the snow will become heavy.
Thank you, wind. You blocked the driveway but you took a lot of snow off the roof. I only had to rake the front door overhang, and the roof on the west side over the living room. I raked a little at the back of the house, where the icicles form just to expose the ice to air.
We have more snow on the ground now than we got all last winter. This is what winter in Vermont is supposed to be like.