Snovember

Snovember. When a storm gets a name here in Western New York, it's usually a doozy.

It began snowing on Tuesday, November 18th and within 24 hours we had nearly 5 feet. It continued to snow until Saturday because the lake effect snow band did not move. It separated the city from the "haves" and "have nots" because if you weren't under the band, you got inches while others got feet.

Five days of driving bans, state of emergency, the National Guard. It all totaled to breaking the world record for the most snow in any populated area of the world. ever. 

Original estimates of 2-3' were wrong. Updated estimates of 70" were wrong. We got 84" of snow, seven feet!

The great thing is that we had heat and a full freezer and pantry. Tessa didn't know we had made national news. All she knew is by day 5, we ran out of bananas and crackers. We did what we always do: snuggle, bake, read, play and go outside (granted, she knew it was a LOT of snow). Poor Scott, on the other hand, had to be at work each day and that wasn't easy.

The birds sought refuge in the feeders. They were packed and we saw so many different types of birds: chickadees, blue jays, mourning dove, cardinals, black-eyed juncos, sparrows, nuthatches and woodpeckers.

There was so.much.snow. 

We built forts.

We played hide and go seek.

We took pictures of cats.

At the beginning, it was exciting because things looked stormy and fun. 

Then by the end of it, we were overwhelmed. Roofs were collapsing. People were running out of supplies.

So what else can you do but play in it?

And us big people indulged.

More days of snow came. And more days of play.

And then, the Sun rose one morning a gorgeous pink.

And it began to all melt away.