Winter came early to Emigrant Gap. By October, there was snow on the ground which was great for combatting our never ending drought but was not so great for seasonal prep at the lodge. Jim had been working hard all summer and early fall on repairing the back fire escape/deck and residing project (which --- with the early snow, was left unfinished). We still had not cut and split firewood. I have to admit that we will never let that happen again! Digging big logs out of the snow, then cutting and splitting them in snowy conditions was not fun. But by December we managed to have enough wood stacked to get us through a regular drought winter. Unfortunately 2022/23 winter has been nothing "regular".
During this time, cousin Doug and Roberta came to the lodge for a short visit. It is wonderful to be able to share our work plans and progress with someone who is doing much the same in upstate New York. Doug has been busy building an Event Center on his property south and east of Saratoga Springs. Since he lives in New York, he was able to purchase the framing of an old barn to use for his building. So, we are able to share all the fun times of moving lumber, and dirt, and rocks, and concrete and building something that the whole family can enjoy. Doug's Event Center has recently evolved into a huge family gathering barn with extensive views of his rolling hill property.
By Christmas we had seen at least three big snow storms at the lodge. This allowed for pre-Christmas skiing. The four of us spent a quiet Christmas (no big family Christmas since it is an "off" year). Since it was just us, we did our usual morning gift exchange, followed by way too much food, silly holiday photos, a dog dress up session and our semi annual Christmas Performance. This year we performed "Santa's Yodeling Song" on our recently repaired, yet still not done back deck. With our Christmas apparel, wired hair (ala Pippi Longstocking), and Mary Beth on lead vocals and Ukulele, with Katie and me on harmony and sleigh bells/triangle and Jim singing bass, we left Taylor and Clinton to be our critics. Of course, all of this silliness was captured on Facebook for our friends and family to see just how much we miss them when we are left to our own devices for the holidays.
Christmas was followed by . . . wait for it . . . more snow. By Martin Luther King Holiday we had a bunch of the white fluffy stuff for our nephews Bill and James and their kids to come up for winter sledding and fun. No worries about shoveling snow just to make our snow run. We spent more time just shoveling to get in and out of the cabin each day. We also managed to make a few fun crafts with the Ella.
Presidents weekend was with sister Mary and hubby Lynn and their daughter and son in law Jess and Josh and their two sweet boys. More snow play, skiing and . . of course. . . . more snow. But most of the group made it down to Nevada City for Madi Gras Parade (as I watched separation anxious Taylor).
Of course, all of this was followed by, you guessed it. . . .more snow. Katie had a group of friends up just before our biggest snow storm (10 feet) in February. They barely got into the cabin, and later barely got out. In fact Katie had so much snow to dig out at our front door that she was unable to get in the first night she the same nieghbor that later, they had a "Snow Bar" set up in front of the cabin while they built a snowman and also made snowcones for the kids.
We followed after the 10 foot or more storm and dug out yet again. Digging snow is becoming less fashionable for us. I have to say that this year we have had the most snow standing that I have ever seen while we have owned the Lodge. There is so much snow at the screened in porch deck that you can not tell that there is a deck, or a screen porch. In fact, the drift of the roof goes all the way up 3 levels to the lower part of the main floor bedroom windows.
So now it is March and our snow fall is beginning to change into constant rain, our 10 foot snow banks are now 8 foot banks. We can finally see through a few of the living room windows (they are no longer completely blocked by snow) and we are taking bets as to when the snow will finally be gone. Oh and by the way, our firewood pile is getting really, really small . . . .
By the end of the season we will know if this snow beats the record from the 1980s. We are currently at the 4th snowiest winter since 1946 (graph below shows when we were fifth).
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