spcasm's Blog

At 2 a.m. I woke to the scraping sounds of the snowplows manning our College Avenue emergency snow routes, judging by the steady snow the small Walnut street hasn't been plowed, so neighbors man your shovels.

       Attention:  DIA  travelors!!     this could put a damper on Holiday travel since its the day before Thanksgiving festivities.  We'll soon see how many stranded flyers end up at the terminal ....

        Observing an elderly gentlemen in shorts with no Winter cap for his short cropped hair style, bent over unsteadily leaning on his cane in an unusual manner brought on by a severe case of kyphosis while carrying a single cellophane bag dropping almost to the sidewalk covered with 2' of snow I watched his unsteady pace taking a few steps this way and trying strongly to maintain his balance, take a few wandering steps with  other  footprints in the snow  - trailed by his crooked path  in the slowly falling snow,  I was almost glad to see that our police department was also parked watching his unsteady pace, wondering if he would fall at any moment, not dressed for this predicted weather.. The single bag seemed to tip him sideways  almost weighing him down,as if he was standing in a heavy West wind. .Standing in front of our Starbucks doorway, an officer approached him: " --you need to get outta the cold???" he stated.... a long conversation elapsed.

     Soon, thankfully, quietly due to the wee hours an ambulance and firetruck arrived to whisk him away to warmth for his own protection. What would cause a man to walk in shorts and no Winter cap  in the wee hours ???   So, when our local coffee shop has MILE  HIGH  delivery at the same door in the early morning to stock up on the hot coffee products so popular on   cold days in Oldtown. I say :   "'Thank you FC p.d." for being on the look-out!  Today we can be thankful our police are looking for the safety of  those wandering in our early storm.

      The roads are covered with 3-4 " of icey snow; a duet  of snowplows continues up and down  #287. ..on an hourly basis.. I am glad to see the smaller snow removal equipment equipped with its  roller brushes clearing a way  on the crosswalks and front sidewalks so that our  tooo  soon,   handi-capped elderly residents using motorized w/c  will be able to access the crosswalks for their companion puppies - a grey named Blue, a chijuajua, a terrior, and the Beagle named Missy.  Even motorized w/c need to have cleaned sidewalks . Rasta Pasta isn't so lucky and have two men shoveling the heavy snow eyeing the quickness of the more modern snow removal equipment owned by the downtown Association.  Bundle up.

      On the upside:   a little further down in our Oldtown  our icerink   is open!!!   A young couple was teaching their four and five yr. old boys to 'wobble' on the ice with an upside down wastebasket while learning their balance.. Wished I had a digital camera to capture that moment in time.

      Lets hope DIA isn't getting snowed under at this writing! May air travel run smoothly. I could  barely see the close mountain foothills from my upper window all day due to the thin, dim white froggy penetration that is a sure sign this snow will follow!  It's time to decorate the tree.