Letters from Corner Brook Week 12

Well, life is certainly anything but boring around here.

Sunday there was snow predicted, but the storm was supposed to go just to the east of us. When I leave for church at 9:45, it is snowing but not heavily....I do make it up the hill into the church parking lot, by shifting into second gear and stepping on the gas. I really need to take a photo of that hill covered in snow, so you get the - pardon the phrase - drift.

In the two hours and a bit which elapse, the snow gets heavier and heavier, visibility poorer and poorer. Because of communion, the service is a little longer than normal, and clearly we need to finish up so people can get on the roads and go. Cut back on hymn verses and a couple of things, and we are done by 12:15.....

There are certainly enough centimetres of snow on the car and in the parking lot to raise at least an eyebrow. Halfway out of the parking lot the tires just start to spin. I spend a good ten minutes trying to figure this out, only to realise I have the hand brake still on. Hand brake off, car moves fine. Ummm, dumb move Fran...

On the way to the usual lunch at Tim Horton’s, I decide to brave the hill known as Premier Drive. It *is* the shortest route, just not necessarily the best. It takes five minutes of crawling, once again in second gear, with the car slip sliding every which way. Likely would have been smarter to go around by the highway. By the time I get to Timmies, we are into a full fledged blizzard. Apparently the storm changed direction and came directly over Corner Brook, turning the predicted ten centimetres into somewhere closer to thirty. Abandoning the plan to stop at Canadian Tire, I just try to negotiate the road home. From Murphy Square there is no easy route, so once again I cut across the top of the hill in blowing snow and whiteouts, over to West Valley and then down into the city again where it’s at least possible to see, more or less.

The last piece of advice I had on the way out of Timmies was “When you get to the Elizabeth Street hill, step on the gas and don’t stop for anything, just keep on going.” I do exactly that. Make it to my driveway, note that the plow has not yet been, turn the car to back in....back in, slide sideways, and ...........

I’M STUCK!!!!! There is no way this car is going to move. The snow is halfway up the doors. A kind neighbour comes and tries to push, but it’s really not going to work. In fact, the car is so close to the tall pile of snow, the driver’s side door won’t even open.

The only way out is over the shift, out the passenger door, and believe me there is no way to do that delicately. Good thing skirts are not winter wear. No point worrying....since it’s not possible to see anything, all there is left to do is flounder (swim?) through hip-high snow to the front door, stagger inside and collapse. Snow all over the back and front of the house, and the evergreen by the deck is laden down. Of course, the camera is still on the front seat of the car. Well, not going out there again for a camera!

By evening, of course, this enormous drop of the white stuff has eased off, and there are my trusty shovellers clearing the drive. They clear all the way around the car so the door will open.

Monday morning dawns clear and beautiful - again. Around 6:30 I am vaguely aware of the two fellas shovelling the stuff from the plow. Back to sleep. Spend a nice quiet morning reading and fiddling with things, noon feels like a good time to go grocery shopping and head for Canadian Tire.

Umm, nope. Car is still stuck. Shovel under the tires and around the tires. Down on knees, butt above head level again, to clear some more of the stuff. Not happening. Clear the remaining five cm of snow off the car. Call CAA. Yes they’ll send someone out within the hour. The CAA call centre is in St. John, NB - and we have a great conversation about how much snow we have both plowed through. Sure enough, the tow truck arrives in exactly an hour, and Yrs. Truly expects them to winch the car out. BUT...these guys are used to Corner Brook winters, let me tell you. He shovels some more snow from around the tires, gets in the car and wiggles the tires this way and that, gets out, shovels up some sand and salt from the roadway and throws it under the tires. Yrs Truly gets in the driver’s seat, he pushes from behind and ......YESSS!!!! We’re out!!!! Oh liberation!!

Well, cut to the return from grocery shopping etc - sun has been out, ice is melting off everything, streets are almost clear. Taking a picture from the roadway gives some idea of the pile - but if you look closely at the pic, that garage roof was totally clear yesterday, and again has two feet of snow on it. The roof of the house doesn’t have as much, probably because the house has radiant ceiling heat rather than furnace heat. You can’t really tell from the photo, but the snow in the front yard is almost to the bottom of the living room window, which is the second floor. My neighbour’s window downstairs on the first floor is buried.

Yes, well - backing in again. This time I line up the car really well, and back straight in, avoiding the trenches from yesterday. Just for good measure I pull out and back in a couple more times, just to be sure it works. It does.

Tuesday noon the ministerial association is having lunch at Humber, provided by the Men's Club of the church. It's a wonderful lunch, but we are also treated to pictures of a trip to a school in Haiti - heartbreaking, but wonderful to see the strides made at the same time.

Wednesday on the way in to the office, I stop again at the docks for pictures. The ferry to Labrador is in, and one of the coast guard ice breakers. Ice is forming on the bay, so they have to be here.

It’s now Thursday evening as I pick this up again. It’s been snowing steadily for the last three days. It’s been another busy week, barely time to breathe - and another memorial service Friday. Spent morning at the office, afternoon preparing funeral service, then picked up one of the younger people from school and went to his home for dinner and some time working on a large-print book to be used in services at Long Term Care. We go around the back way (which also avoids needing to drive up the straight-up hill), and it’s beautiful out there. Another place to go take some pics when the weather is a little better.

Now, dinner is something I haven’t had before. It’s called ‘Fish and Brewis’ - generally made either with fresh or salt cod. “Brewis” is a particular kind of ‘hard bread’ (read ‘hardtack’ - or ship’s biscuits), soaked and then combined with the fish. The dish is generally topped with ‘scrunchions’, bits of crispy fried bacon fat or pork back. It’s just the kind of stuff I like...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_brewis

I come home down the hill, and have been aware for a couple of days that the car has an odd kind of wobble. So it may be time to get the car looked at, before something worse happens. My son the engineer says it might be something like a cracked nut in the wheel or something. So - I guess it’s time to go to the car wash, and then take it in for a look-see. Sigh.

Fortunately I arrive just in time for the two snow-clearers - so I move the car out, and they clear the whole drive nice and clean.

Friday there is a memorial service again, so I make my way to the church office to pick up my robe and shoes, and work for awhile. I go via the car wash, hoping that it will remove some of the salt and sand stuff from the car. Well, it does - also freezes the car doors. Manage to get in and out - but the big hunk of ice backed up behind the wheel is still there. Now I know why there’s no point taking the car to the car wash in the winter. Not till the weather is warmer and the snow gone!!!! Also make an appointment to take the car for some attention.....gulp.

Up near the church, there is a howling blizzard. Not bothering to try the hill. The funeral home is not far from the church, but up that famous hill known as Premier Drive....as I get to the turn, it’s clear that traffic going up AND down is stuck....not going to try that either. I go all the way down the hill, get onto the Lewin Parkway which is a much easier drive, and then come DOWN the hill behind the funeral home - a bit longer but much faster and safer. Needless to say it isn’t possible to see a thing - and yet the service is pretty well full.

I struggle home and it becomes clear that there won’t be any entering the driveway without copious shovelling - as I am invited out for dinner and some viewing of the Vicar of Dibley, I don’t even bother to try to get in. Discretion being by far the better part of valour, Yrs. Truly opts to take the back road again - and goes while it’s light enough to see. It’s a smart move......

.....around 8:15, the other guest and I decide it’s time to navigate the road home. Navigate is truly the operative word. There are still huge fat flakes of snow coming down, so that it’s almost impossible to see a thing. It takes over half an hour to do a ten-minute drive (not hurrying by any means), and then a quick spurt up my hill, whip around the corner to see (yikes) that same huge pile of plow stuff. I try, I really do, to get in over it - and get stuck again. *This* time, luckily, two neighbours come to help - the driveway is quickly cleared, and wonder of wonders they even manage to remove the giant chunks of ice behind the wheels. Note to self: go get a scoop, the heck with shovels.

Saturday - today - dawns with sunshine which seems to be continuing. The snow squall warning has been cancelled. As I wander to the back window, there is my favourite cargo ship, the TransFighter, coming up the bay through the ice. I am reminded again of so many friends who make their living on the sea - and the risks they take all the time sailing the oceans - and offer some prayers for all sailors.