On Thursday this week it was nearly 70 degrees F. All of the piles of ice and snow had melted, even the driveway glacier was gone. We had mud and muck everywhere. The Spring birds were twittering in the trees. There was the smell of manure from farm up the street as the farmer spread it on his fields. Not always a pleasant smell, but we are far enough away that we just get a scent of it when the wind changes. I haven't heard the peeper frogs in the pond yet, All this activity are signs that Spring is just around the corner. Until yesterday.

We had a freakin' Nor'easter slam into our area starting early yesterday morning. The snow started here around 5:00am. I had taken the day off because I had to drive to NH to pick up Ryan at college for Spring break. It wasn't snowing beyond our little town, the storm was more to the east. I had a dry and quiet ride once I got to Glastonbury. Our usual route to the college is up Rte 2 in CT to Hartford and then get on Interstate 91 north. That takes us across the width of Massachusetts and up Vermont. Just before White River Junction, we cross the CT river into NH. The rest of the trip, about 40 miles is mostly back roads. On the trip home, it started snowing between exit 6 and 7 of the highway in VT. That meant we had to travel all of MA and CT in the bad weather. I picked up Ryan and his mountain of laundry up around 11:30 and we started the trek home. We made a quick stop for lunch in Lebanon NH, then continued the trip. We saw 10 accidents and/or cars off the road in MA. Another 6 accidents in CT.

When we got to Hartford, the precipitation was so heavy that we could not see the buildings in the city from the highway. Anyone from this area knows that the highway is a mere block away from the buildings downtown. It was a white-out condition. Around Hartford the snow changed into sleet. We didn't arrive home until almost 6:00pm. Subtracting the time for lunch, it was about a 5 and half hour trip home after a 4 hour trip up there. Do I have to tell you how tired I was last night? I did all of the driving. Steve had to stay home as it was Friday and he was working. I could have had Ryan drive, but I didn't think that would be less stressful for me than doing the actual driving myself. My hands last evening were in a stiff and curled state from holding the steering wheel of the car for that many hours (I have Carpal Tunnel and permanent nerve damage in both of them). No knitting or spinning was possible. I took 3 Ibuprofen at bedtime and they are better this morning.

Steve was just out shoveling a little bit. He gets extremely winded, but the doctor told him to exercise a little. He shovels about 20 feet than stops. He's resting on the couch now.

Ryan is asleep and I imagine he will be for a few more hours. At my insistence last night, he did not go over to see Rianne. She only lives a few miles from us, but the roads were very bad and at that time, the were going to get worse as the evening progressed. She had a fit with him on the phone and is very angry. She is young and does not always think logically. Ryan told me he doesn't care if she is angry, he agreed that it was too dangerous to venture out on the roads. She has to look at the big picture and stop being so selfish. He has grown up so much since he has been away at school. She seems to still be stuck in a high school frame of mind. Sometimes I wonder if they will stay together as they mature at different rates.

Today our plans are to shovel out and I want to do some cleaning. Now that the buns are out in the shed, I can get to my desk again but I can't see the top of it and I need to clear it off. I made of crock pot of chili yesterday but we didn't eat it as we were too tired last night. We'll have that for lunch or dinner and I plan on making some cookies. It's a good day to stay inside with my family. Stay safe.