Buried Alive

 Buried Alive

Friday night Betty and I went to Dos Vistas, our little mountain retreat in Pine Mountain Club.  The forecast had rain and snow coming in over the weekend and I planned to enjoy whatever little spring snow we might get and head down the mountain on Sunday afternoon after the snow melted.  Riiight. 

Friday night we got a late start and had a nice dinner at Le Lena Mexican Restaurant in the Pine Mt. Club Village.  The food is always good and the people are really nice.  Betty had chicken fajitas and had some left over’s which we took back to the cabin.  We ended up being grateful for it.

Saturday was cloudy and there was nothing pressing to do in the yard.  So I took advantage of the time to install a new (old) thermostat for the central heating system.  I had a digital thermostat from when we changed to a new heating/AC unit in our Bakersfield home.  I thought this would be an upgrade and that we could program it for more comfy living.

I looked at the existing thermostat and compared it to the new one.  There were the same number and color of wires and it looked like an easy swap.  Riiight.  When the wires started sparking as I installed the new thermostat, I had sinking feeling that I screwed up.  The central heater didn’t work at all.  I placed numerous frantic calls to technicians and electricians to help get the heater working again as the weather outside was getting colder.  One electrician was really nice to take a look at it and not charge me unless he could fix it.  He was lost with the instrumentation and was no help.  Thankfully, the local Heating and AC guy called back and knew what was wrong when I explained it to him.  He came over and brought a new transformer and quickly figured out that I had blown the trans former on the heater.  After some good advice from Betty like, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” and “ no good deed goes unpunished” and $200 later, we had heat just as the snow flurries started on Saturday night. 

There is nothing like grilling a couple New York steaks in the mountains and pairing it with a bottle of Le Cuvier 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon.   The Le Cuvier Cabs are truly wonderful and we had no problem finishing the bottle.  We had heat, great dinner, great wine and nice music.  We went to bed happy.

During the night, I was wakened numerous times by the howling wind.  And Sunday morning I woke up to 6 inches of snow on the ground, the deck, the car, everywhere.  It was beautiful.   I cleared the deck and cleared the driveway.  We could have left then, but 6 inches of snow is a lot in the mountains without tire chains and it was coming down really heavy.  My plan was to wait until the afternoon when it warmed up and melted.  But by the time I cleared the deck, I turned around and another ½ inch had fallen.   And I was all wet from working in the snowstorm. During Sunday, 6 inches I the morning turned out to be 12 inches by noon and 2 feet by dark.  We lost power on Sunday and kept hearing the loud CRACK of breaking trees as the heavy snow accumulated.  A tree fell on the power line.  And a tree fell across the driveway, blocking our exit.  A tree fell across the road blocking the street.  A tree fell on the house.  This is getting really scary and destructive.  We had dry fire wood in the basement so we were able to keep warm. 

We couldn’t get out at all on Sunday.  We had some food, the left over fajitas.  We mixed with a can of pinto beans.  There was microwave popcorn, but no power.  Thank God someone left a can of Easy Cheese (Cheese Wiz).  That was great.  I worked all day Sunday keeping the snow cleared so we had an escape route. I cut and cleared the tree across the driveway.  And the snow kept falling all day.  As I worked and got soaking wet from the snow and sweat, I’d come in and change cloths and dry the wet ones by the fire. 

The  got heavier as the day went on.  By Sunday night there was 2 feet of snow on top of the car. I was running out of placees to pile it up.  This is crazy.  I’m a California boy and Betty would not even go outside.  The snow plow went by on Sunday morning clearing 12” off the road.  But by the end of the day, there was another foot and a half already.  How are we ever going to get out of here?

For dinner Sunday night we cooked up a bag of ravioli from Costco.  The cheese and spinach filled triangles.  They were really good.  I was so exhausted from keeping the snow cleared that any calories tasted good, especially the Cheese Wiz. 

We camped in the living room Sunday night with the fireplace going.  It was warm but not as comfortable as the bed downstairs.  Early Monday morning when we are supposed to be going to work, we woke to more accumulation of snow.  Aanother 6 inches had fallen during the night.  This makes 3 feet so far.  But the moon was full and the sky was clear so I was hopeful that it would be a warm day.  We had an eggs, a bagel and some bacon for breakfast.  That made a great sandwich.  I started clearing the new fallen snow, but was depressed by the tree branches that had fallen across the road out next door.  We were waiting for the snow plow to come by so we could make an escape.  They never cleared our road again.  They cleared every other road it seemed.  I cut the tree limbs that were buried in snow and moved them off to the side of the road – and waited for the snow plow. 

I had more Cheese Wiz for lunch and some left over pasta.  We were anxious to get out and we could see the main road below was clear of snow and ice.  The weather started to warm up and the snow started to melt.  On the road out it got slushy but there was still 1-2 feet of snow on it.  We could not get through.  I saw a neighbor walking down the road in the snow and I took my snow shovel and went with him to check out the other cleared roads.  We talked to other drivers that had been on the main road going out of the area and learned that it was clear in both directions with the warm weather.  I started pushing slush around as it was melting in the street with my snow shovel.  Some guy drove up in a big truck, rolled his window down and said to me, “you missed a spot”.  Thanks a lot buddy.  Then I started shoveling the road back to the house.  It goes by three other houses.  How long would it take to shovel the width of my car about 140 feet?  One shovel full at a time and I could clear 3 feet in a couple minutes, with a couple minutes rest.  The neighbor I was with had to get to work also.  Watching me shovel he said, “I guess I’ll get my shovel”.  So he started from his house which was past ours.  And then another neighbor came out and helped shovel just for something to do.  It was 2:00 and we were making real progress clearing the road.  I knew the rest of the roads were clear and Betty came out and I told here to pack the car, were getting out.  We had cleared a path just wide enough for the car with 2 foot snow banks on both sides.  We got to the main road and it was clear going all the way out to I-5. 

We made it home at 4:00 Monday afternoon.  And I came home to a swimming pool full of dirt and mess from the storm.  And the next day I went to work and my office had water damage and the ceiling had started to come down.  I turned around and decided to work from home until the office was livable.  Now it’s Wednesday and I’m exhausted and I’m wearing an EKG monitor because my heart felt like it was going to explode so I went to the cardiologist to get checked out.  What an ordeal.  I think I’ll make it.  I still have to go back to Dos Vistas and remove fallen trees from the house and power line and clean up one hell of a mess.  And it’s still snowing up there.  So it will be a few weeks before I can work on the clean up.  I think there is still son Cheese Wiz up there.  Ummmm, Cheese Wiz.