Driving in a Ground Blizzard, A Montana Haiku

Wind blows from the west.
The road is swallowed in white.
We fear the steep ditch.

Snowy Adventures

At what point in the day do you say, "this is an adventure!"? Is it the morning run? Or when you hit rush hour? Perhaps you told your child that the day left your side and boarded the school bus for the first day of school? Now that parting is mundane, a part of the routine. Well, for my dear ones, the adventure begins the minute they head out for the bus stop.

With over 2 feet of fresh snow, it will be amazing if they don't get stuck somewhere between here and there. And in actuality, I doubt the bus will make it up here.

Then if they do make it to school, there is always the possibility that by that time schools out we'll be snowed in and no one, not even our own kids, will be able to get home. They will have to stay with a friend down in town. No really, the school booklet they hand out on the first day of school says we need to have a plan for this very thing!

And of all the weeks for the big storm, it had to be the week that the elementary and Jr high are doing a MCT play and Lou Lou is supposed to be at school until 8pm each night!

Truly an adventure.

Winter Arrives On the Mountain

It started snowing Monday and was so beautiful. But the dirt road to the bus stop was really messy and my Adventure Man said he had a hard time in my big car. He was going out of town for a few days and was kind of freaking out. He stocked me up on wood for the fire, but then told me not to use it unless the power went out. As if! He shoveled all the walks only to have snow slide off the roof and cover them all up again. Poor guy! Plus it was still snowing. I was going to drive him to the airport in Big Town, but he decided to just take his pickup. As it turns out, gas would have cost more than the long term parking does. 


When I went to pick up the girls after school I got out of my car to find the bus was stuck! They had plowed the main road and graded our dirt road, but no one had plowed the bus pull off! She had gone off the road maybe two feet and had gotten stuck. 


My girls got in my car with the little ones and I flagged down the first car to pass. Luckily we have lots of traffic (laughing), well for us, because it's hunting season. The hunter had a tow rope that he thought would do the trick! I have a tow rope... but it's really little... I bought an emergency car kit from Eddie Bauer once (hey! It's "City Girl gone Ranch Mama" give me a break!) and the tow rope that is came with would pull a Prius!  Well the first pickup worked on pulling and the bus just spun and spun. We shoveled and dug but nothing. The next pickup came by and I asked if they wanted to push. That was a jackpot pickup because 4 big men got out and pushed and she was out. They said now you can say a bunch of hunters from New York helped!  Well, I said it! I told the bus driver my kids would stay home the next day. 


At first I was wondering if that was such a smart idea. It was pounding when I said it, but shortly after dark it stopped snowing altogether! Then, right when I would have been off to the bus stop it was a total white wash outside. I felt it was the right move to make. The county seemed to be taking it's time in prep for winter.


The next day was a school day. I told the kids not to give me any of that because they WERE going to school. I loaded them all up and we headed out. That was when I realized that the snow had drifted. But that was not when I realized I couldn't drive through it! I got stuck just outside of our gate. That was lucky because I only had to walk back to the house a few yards and Bunny was in the car seat, and Bear in PJ's without shoes on. Here is my parking job at 7:15 yesterday morning!

 It took our maintenance manager (my personal hero), all morning to clear the roads and get my car out so I could try and get down the road to school. I was feeling really down on myself for how quickly I managed to get stuck, but after I spoke to our neighbor I learned that there was a 4 foot drift down the road and there was no way we would have made it out to the school bus stop. We were snowed in! (This is when I thank the Lord for my food storage, no matter how humble it may be!)


 We had lunch and I was hopping that the county had cleared the road by now, so we could at least make it to Faith In God Girls. But then an employee called and said she made a 2nd attempt to come in and this time was following the snow plow! "Yay!" I thought, then she said that the plow couldn't even get through it!!!! So she wasn't coming in and hopefully the county can get the right kind of plow up here. She had called to make sure I was Okay. We were all fine, we have rations if things got bad but for now we are still using up leftovers. (yuck.)


I finally got another call at quarter to seven that night to let me know that the county finally made it through! They had to use a back-how and a dump truck to get rid of it all. We made it to the bus stop this morning. Adventure Man gets home this afternoon and has already made it back to the Montana mud. It is snowing again and raining in Little Town so we are sure to have more road conditions to tell about! Who knows what will happen tomorrow. 

Staying warm on the mountain. Oh, did I mention that we got 3 feet in one storm while Little Town only got inches! 

The Sound of Night

It is dark. Darker than you could ever imagine. The lack of street lights makes that an obvious state. At times it is quieter than you could ever imagine as well. The stillness can feel as if you are the only one on the face of the earth. But tonight it is the sound of ghosts and monsters lashing at the trees. The sound of the ocean trying to claim the ship. It is a wonder that the children can sleep through it. I checked to make sure I had the bottles for the midnight feedings and the howling was of wolves at the window. I had opened the window yesterday to ask Adventure Man a question as he left and had forgotten to latch it. The wind grabs the edges of the pains and pulls. It whistles when it can and this is it's favorite game.  It is alive and far beyond the playful wind who pulls down laundry from the line or knocks over lawn chairs. This wind is mean. It makes work for us. It pulled the rack that holds the pool cover out of the cement. It pushes cars from the road. This wind would strip the forest of it's leaves. It has. Just a few days after our parents were here enjoying the autumn brilliance the color was gone. In one night it was swept from the trees and the forest floors. Where did it go? In it's place was winter's gray in the distance. The Witch's forest.

Each morning I think I will wake to winter's glory, but if he makes an effort it is only to remind us of his chill and annoyance by icing over the cars. There is a powdered sugar dusting over the high mountains. This has brought the deer to our door. They watch me through the window as I watch them. They stand alert and watchful. A wise practice during hunting season. We tossed our Jack-O-Lanterns over the fence to the field and smashed them for the deer. We watch them kick and fight over them. They remind me of my children when they are naughty. But it is the mother's who fight and the little yearlings who eat. What example are we demonstrating for our little ones. As I think on these thoughts I am grateful not to be scrounging for my families food. What would it have been like to be an early settler here in this harsh land? How did they survive the winter?


The wild still whips the sides of our sturdy home. It tries to wake the children, it tries to get in. It tosses the windchime. Trying to sound scary. Trying to make afraid. Now it roars with frustration and the house shutters. It only succeeds in lulling me to sleep. My eyes grow heavy.

Road Sign Randomness

Living on a dirt road is hard on road signs. And I tend to see more of my life emulated in these signs than I probably should. I just wanted to share....

Beware Rednecks with Shotguns

 Every time I pass this sign I think about how closely it resembles life. The path is never straight, it's rusted out and full of holes, but the view is well worth it.

Read Carefully! 

Ever get the feeling your going the wrong way? And of course there is the religious implications...


Read the Signs! xo

Montana BINGO

cow, well, calf in the road 

I'm counting this as one of the many tractor type rigs that go really slow down the road! 

grain silos 

school house

Round bales 

T-rex! Scary!!! 

Horses! These ones are mine. :o) 

Rocky Mountains! 

another cow in the road

road sign with rusty shotgun wholes 

Marshlands at sunset 

a butte (Pine Butte actually) 

Nuclear Missile Silo 

These last two weren't on the game board but are fun so I added them! :o)

a pheasant rooster

goats and their charge, a llama! 

Enjoy! xo

Saying Good Bye

Last week was a busy one for all of us. The wranglers were busy getting the horses out to pasture. The cooks were busy getting rid of all the leftovers. Guest Services were busy cleaning up after the last of the guests and getting the cabins ready to be closed up for the winter. I was busy taking kids here and there for Homecoming week. Yes, my kids are only in elementary school, but when you go to a school that is K-12, homecoming encompasses much more than high school. Here the cheerleaders offer a camp for the kids ages 3 years to 6th grade. The end result: getting to perform in the halftime cheer. My girls had so much fun!


Now our freezer is stocked with leftovers from the kitchen, my crisper is busting with the last of the greens from the garden. The horses are retired for the season. The staff has headed home and this little valley, fresh from the October rain, is once again very quiet. Until next year!