Storm day stories and cabin fever ramblings

I mentioned in my last post that we had a few snow stranded guests after our party. Their stay with us ended up to be just a little more than 36 hours, with the roads finally fit to travel again late Friday morning. It was quite an adventure! I don't think I will ever forget how we spent the first days of 2009.


Our overnighters did attempt to head home during what appeared to be a lull in the storm mid-morning on New Year's day. They headed out convoy-style but returned soon after short one car. The leader of the pack got caught in a snow drift across the road and they weren't able to free it, even with a few extra guys to help shovel and push. They had to admit defeat and come back to our safe abode, leaving the car stranded directly in the middle of the road with the tires straddling the yellow line. We called the local snow plow driver (a perk of living out in the country... you know who drives the plow) and told him the location of the car so he wouldn't bury it or worse when the storm cleared. First lesson learned in this storm: All hail the noble snow plow operator. Even when Mother Nature appears to subside, no one moves until the plow driver does.

So, our guest called his family to let them know he was riding out the storm with us but didn't tell them about the car stranded in the middle of the road - no need to worry them, right? Wrong. Second lesson learned: When you find yourself in some trouble, your mother will always find out somehow. Early Thursday evening, our guest received a frantic call from his parents... a snowmobiler had come across his abandoned car and called the RCMP, who notified his parents because they were listed as his emergency contact with Highway Safety.

After that excitement, we all settled down in front of the TV for some storm day vegging. There just happened to be a marathon on of my favourite show about busting myths, so I was happy. The first featured myth: a car will handle better in snowy conditions if you drive backwards. Well, we had already busted that one ourselves that morning. The next myth: does cabin fever really exist? Stay tuned...

A really fun way to pass time when you're going stir-crazy is to feed party snack leftovers to crows during gale force winds. Trust me, you will laugh yourself silly watching them try to navigate the crosswinds across the patio, miss the landing completely and circle all the way around the house to take another pass at it all for the sake of a stale cracker. This activity sent both cats into fits of chattering on the window sill. Which sent the humans into fits of laughter at the suggestion that all they needed to complete the bird watching experience were kitty-sized binoculars and pith helmets.

Of course, you might be lucky enough to have a comedian stranded among you. One of our guests is a rather heavy smoker and I noted late in the evening that he hadn't smoked all day. I asked him if he was out of cigarettes and offered to call some neighbours if he needed some. I have some pretty strong opinions about smoking, but even I would admit that cold turkey has no place when you're snowed in with a New Year's hangover. In any case, our guest said he had plenty of cigarettes (never leaves home without adequate supplies) but he just hadn't felt like smoking. We were then treated to a brilliantly funny set about him thinking he was at a celebrity rehab clinic with someone waiting on him and wondering what time the sharing circle would be held. Better than TV and crows, no question.

Lesson number three and myth number two: cabin fever does exist.

P.S. No cars, crows, cats, parents or friendships were harmed in the writing of this post.