Beware the drift

While watching various weather reports on TV this weekend, I heard many a weatherperson issue warnings re: blowing snow and to beware of the drift. Honestly, I was not sure what 'the drift' was. I initially thought that drift was synonymous with ditch - when you are driving and you slip on ice and run off the road, your car is now in the ditch. Given that the ditch is generally not a good place to be, this seemed reasonable. Driving home from Mason City this weekend, I was enlightened as the the true meaning of the phrase. When you have fresh powder snow covering flat, open fields and 35-40mph winds, the wind picks up the powder and moves it (inches of it) into the road. The roads had recently been plowed, but there were patches covered in an inch or two of snow on stretches of the highway that were surrounded by open fields. The blowing snow also makes it hard to see - especially when a semi-truck passes you at high speeds and kicks up additional snow into the wind. When that happens, you can't see anything at all, and you very nearly have a panic attack.

All ended well...I made it home safely and Raul and I had a good weekend - we ran lots of errands (several large storage containers were purchased to house all the recent acquisitions to my yarn stash.) I think Raul and I have an understanding that I am not to buy anymore yarn for some time. I'm very excited about my new yarn, and I have schemes for several new knitting projects like this and this. I have yet to knit a sweater, so we'll see how it goes.

Here's a picture at the start of my drive home to Iowa City on Saturday. Northern Iowa has gotten so much snow that the snow banks are enormous - here is the one located at the outlet of my Mason City apartment complex:

And for good measure, here is a picture of a very lonely and snuggly Greta. She was happy to see us this weekend, and she sends her love!

Enough already

So, for those of you keeping track of the weather in Iowa, we are currently in the midst of a blizzard as predicted. We received several inches of snow last night - think maybe 8-10"? I'm not sure. When I awoke this morning, all the roads (including the interstate) leading in and out of Mason City were either closed or completely covered in snow with travel not advised and towing services prohibited. Good times. So, I am here for tonight - I think things should be better tomorrow. Raul is also stuck in Des Moines - apparently, yesterday visibility was only about 1/4 mile due to the storm.

I want to go home! I am frustrated and somewhat angry at being stranded in Mason City, and I have decided to blame the captains of industry that pumped pollutants into the environment that are warming the jet stream currents that mixed with this front and prompted it to drop 10 inches of snow and ice on all the roads between me and Iowa City. Despite my Al Gore inspired rant (and he is quite the inspirational figure), apparently storms of this nature are not completely unheard of in these parts. During the many hours I spent listening to NPR this morning, I learned that the word blizzard originated in Iowa (not a surprise) and a similar storm swept through this area back in 1982. All my clinical activities were cancelled today due to inclement weather. I spent my morning knitting, obsessively watching the weather channel, listening to NPR and digging out my car. All and all, it was a grand time. Here are photos:

The car (buried.) I was not excited about the prospect of unearthing the car. I contemplated asking Raul to make a detour through Mason City on his way home to help me clean off the car. I came to my senses and realized I could do it myself.

After 30 minutes of brushing and scraping, here is the finished project. Thankfully, Raul had two mismatched gloves stashed in the car. This work freezes bare hands. And no worries - Raul just reminded me that I need to clean the snow off the taillights.

Here is a completed mitten for the right hand. I wore it on the walk to the hospital this afternoon, and my right hand was quite toasty. Hopefully, I will get to start and finished the mate soon (my left hand was cold.)