Turning Point

Tomorrow, I go to Stormville to pick up my new chain saw.

Birdhouse

Birdhouse, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Birdhouses have to be all cleaned out and sun-dried every spring and fall. Today, mine got the treatment. This is right after the 10:1 water/bleach disinfection dip.

Flowers

Flowers, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

The flowers are off to a good start. Photography note: Had a hard time white-balancing this photo. I think I need a little practice doing manual white balance out in the sun.

Sun Tea

Sun Tea, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

70-plus and sunny again today. Time to get some tea bags in the sun.

Hello

Hello, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Starting to feel like motorcycle season.

The Thaw

The Thaw, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Yes, the snow is melting. Slowly.

Just a View

Just a View, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

So this is the scene today. After a few hours of plowing and shoveling, the car can kind of come up to the end of the driveway, and there's sort of a path to the kitchen door. So I can almost get up and into the place without getting wet. Kind of.

Still no power -- and the power company website says they're not getting around to me until March 2nd, 10 pm. So until then, soft city, sweetheart -- at http://beaconbighouse.blogspot.com.

Warming the Essentials

Warming the Essentials, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

You really can't hike in or out of Tall Pines without getting pretty sloppy, so when you do get into the house and get one roaring in the fireplace, it's best to get everything drying. Like the boots and jeans, pictured here.

You can't see this in the photos, but when you put wet clothes in front of the fire like this, they start steaming after a few minutes. The boots, too -- the steam comes right out the top of the boot like a smoke stack.

All covered

All covered, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Ahh, the trappings of summer lifestyle, here as if imagined buried under 30+ inches of late February snow. Motorcycling, dinner at the picnic table with chilled white wine ... so easy to picture, yet so far away. Dig the pile up on that tree stump!

Driveway, Headed Out!

Driveway, Headed Out!, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

We do this route by foot, these days. Used to do it by auto, but that was back before the storm!

Driveway, Headed in!

Driveway, Headed in!, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

This was literally as far as I could make it up my driveway. If you keep going about 3/10s of a mile, the house is just up there. This is also where a nice big tree limb came down on the hood of the CR-V and got me acquainted with Geico's claim-filing process.

Ah! Morning Sun!

Ah! Morning Sun!, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Good morning! Just walk out the kitchen door, look right and Viola! Here's the beautiful west grounds of Tall Pines, under 30-some inches of the good stuff. Frequent visitors who have handled a target rifle will want to look at this photo full size and check out the target.

TPL Power Down!

TPL Power Down!, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

No power at Tall Pines -- except for the burglar alarm, that works fine. But nothing else! No internet, no heat, no well water! Luckily, the stove works fine and so the does fireplace. And I got plenty of firewood, so no worries.

It must have been all of this heavy snow -- by the a.m. there was 9 inches of the white stuff. And a big tree limb ripped off a tree at the bottom of my driveway and pulled down all the power, phone and cable lines. Oopsie. Oh well, it isn't really my fault nobody in Lomala's going to be able to watch Oprah this afternoon. Blame Mother Nature.

Check out the diagram above. Distribution circuit, apparently, is where the problem is. I'm sure Central Hudson Power & Gas will be on it soon enough.

1-2 inches

1-2 inches, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Seriously, more snow tonight. Heavy, wet snow. And honestly -- does that look like the forecast 1-2 inches? No, I didn't think so either.