No way out

The third blizzard in less than two weeks has turned out to be strongest to hit the rez. I canceled my weekend trip to Sioux City Friday morning, thinking even though I'd be able to make it east without a problem, I'd have trouble returning home. I was definitely bummed about missing my race though, especially since, looking at the results, I could have placed really well (grrrrrrrrrr).

I went down to Valentine Friday night instead for pizza and ice cream, thinking it would be my only opportunity to get out this weekend. I was right. The snow and wind arrived yesterday morning and did not let up all day. A little more snow fell today. Or was it just the wind blowing around what had already fallen? Who knows.

I did get bundled up to attempt a walk into town this evening. It had only been 48 hours since Valentine, but I needed to get outside. I made it a third of the way down our dirt road when I hit the drift. I turned around when it reached my knees. I couldn't tell where it ended either.

Upon realizing I was officially snowed in (and outsiders were snowed out), I was positively giddy. That, and the drifts around the buildings and the nearly completed Habitat homes were amazing. It was easy to figure out the winds came out of the northeast with this storm, judging by the bare ground in the lee of the homes:

To provide a better perspective on the height of the drifts, I setup the camera for a self-portrait. Unfortunately, the camera blew over a couple seconds before snapping the photo. I've got to say though, there's something about this shot I really like:

I think it's the symmetry. A photographer gets lucky sometimes.

After shooting some digital shots, I ran inside to grab my film camera (i.e. my real camera). I have a lot of great subject material here on the property: a church, an old school bus, a view of the town's water tower, sunset, the drifts... Bounding through the snow, I was able to shoot about a roll and a half of film. Awesome.

Spring is right around the corner. It just has to be, being April and all. But spring blizzards are not uncommon here. I don't mind it though. The sun was around for a good portion of the winter. And we've had several days over 70 degrees already. That variety makes the downright bitter weather tolerable - and kind of a novelty.

True, I thought the sight of Termination Dust on Mount Juneau in the Fall of 2003 was neat too; however, a Juneau winter has no breaks. At least I can look back and say I lived through the snowiest winter on record there (197.8 inches in '06-'07). Good times.

So, I'm trapped and I missed my race. Eh. I'll live. I have food and the snow will eventually melt. And most importantly, summer's coming.

Sun. Heat. Running. Sweat. Sunburn.