and then it snowed again

It's official - we're all done with the Wisconsin winter. The problem is that winter is just about all we know of our new home, since we moved in right as the season began, so it has translated pretty much into my family being done with Wisconsin. This is problematic, for all of the obvious reasons.

The kids and Justin have been teetering on the edge of being done for several weeks now, as the lingering sub-freezing temperatures stubbornly refused to give way to sunny days with a hint of spring in the warming of the breeze. It probably didn't help that our spring break locale didn't provide seven straight days of tropical delights; we'll have to think harder about that one next year! The frustrations, though, with the weather and lingering cold, were tempered by the belief that it would get better soon.

Then the record setting April snow storm hit.

Sunday, after an hour and a half of shoveling... and it was still coming down

Sunday - trying to keep up as the snow falls faster and faster

It snowed... and snowed... and snowed... and the wind blew, and the spring felt even farther away, much less summer. The system that brought the blizzard spun for almost two days, dropping over 18" of snow in Neenah. In April. When the average highs are supposed to be in the 50s, and lows in the low 30s. When on the same day just one year ago, it had been 74*.

Not this year.

I went outside on Sunday a couple of times to shovel, just to try and keep up with it. It was coming down so fast, though, that by the time I made it to the end of the driveway, there was already at least a 1/2" back at the top where I'd started. Thankfully, our neighbor came over with his snowblower a couple of times which was an absolute blessing, especially where the plows had created a massive pileup at the end of the driveway.

We were joking that we'd thought we could make it through the winter without a snowblower. And, ironically, we did! It's SPRING for crying out loud!!

By Monday mid-morning, the storm had mostly blown itself out, and we were on the tail end of the snow. The kids, with one of the few snow days this school year, joined me back outside to once again shovel our way out.

 

At this point, I was essentially at muscle failure. My shoulders and arms were screaming from who-knows-how-many pounds of wet spring snow I had moved over the last couple of days. Justin had to help toss the snow over the piles at this point, because they were so tall and I was so tired, I couldn't quite manage it! We also had some yeoman's work to get the mailboxes dug out enough that the mail carrier could reach them, assuming he showed up sometime soon!

 

Between the wind and having to find a place to put the snow from the driveway, we'll probably have some piles of snow in the yard well into May until it all melts. It was probably six feet high net to the house, and closing in on five feet on the side of the driveway.

A week later, I think we may finally be able to confidently say that was the last snow of the season. Much of the snow has melted, though lawns are still covered and piles are still tall. Little League baseball season has been delayed and even the local high schools are trying to figure out what to do. As I ran by Neenah High School's baseball field yesterday morning, they had the industrial size snowblower in the outfield trying to clear it for play!

Next year will be better, I hope. We would've been delighted to get 18" of snow in January or February, when it would've stayed soft and fluffy, and stuck around long enough for us to do some local cross country skiing! By April, though, we just want to get on to what everyone says is the amazing summers up here. So come on, sun! Keep working your solar magic, and let's play ball!!