SNOW! (A short story that's not in the book)

We saw our first snow on the ground this week; it has melted but there will be more... and more and MORE! We get some pretty epic snowfalls in the interior BC, it can be really wet and heavy which makes for sore muscles and increased wine consumption lol. I'm a skier so I always look forward to some good days on the slopes, also on the cross-country skis, snowshoes and maybe even a snowmobile.

I'm reminded, as I am every year on the first snowfall, of a particular "snow event" once upon a time at the B&B, when it snowed just over 1m (it was 34 inches!) in 24 hours. Nobody knew it was going to be that much falling at once so we were all caught by surprise and I, for one, had no idea what a drama it would turn out to be. Then, immediately after the snow stopped, the temperature dropped from just below freezing to -28c.

Very fortunately, I had plenty of food (and very necessary wine) and no guests staying with me that day or in the coming couple of days so I was completely alone on my property, and yes, I was literally trapped! I didn't have the snow equipment to deal with that massive amount of snow so I called the plow guys who told me it would be days before they could get to me. Because I lived 6km out of town and with the highway completely closed down they could only work moving outwards of town after they plowed out all of their own equipment in town, then the town itself and then the highways and rural properties. Yup, I was in the LAST category and it did actually take them 3 days to come and dig me out.

My lodge had a wood-burning furnace that took 24-inch-long logs that were usually around 10 inches across. It was a great system but required a lot of work; the colder it was, the more work you had to do and in temperatures that low I had to feed that beast every 3 hours or so which meant sleep was not great with many interruptions to do more work. When I wasn't dealing with heating the joint I was busy outside digging out the hot tub, the decks, and the sidewalks. It was a completely exhausting effort and I felt like I was on a polar version of "Survivor".

While I was waiting for the snow crew, I received many calls from folks in and around the area who were checking in to see if I was ok. I assured them all that I was, but didn't tell that I was more than a little freaked out because what if hadn't been ok, or what if something takes a sharp sideways turn? What could anyone do to help me? Between my sleep deprivation and the stress from worrying about what could go wrong I can say that was a really long 3 days.

In the end everything was more or less fine, no problems big enough to recount. The plows came, dug me out and life went right back to normal... though, if you read my book, nothing out there ever seemed completely "normal" lol. And now, when it snows, I almost always think back to those days I was trapped by the snow and see it as a bit of a metaphor for the 14 years of owning the B&B.

I hope you enjoyed this little window into my past and wish you all the best of the snow-days ahead! I welcome your comments and feedback on my posts and would also be happy to take any suggestions from you for upcoming posts.