[RC] Fw: Riding out in the worst snowstorm since 1772 (was Pictures) - Part 2 - Flora Hillman
Continued from Part 1
....
As my pony trundled through
the snow, crossing the front lawn on the way out past the big summer pasture
(empty now) and down towards the road, I saw my son was waiting for me at the
front door of the house. He took the camera and I posed for a few
shots, looking all the world like a bandito waiting for the payload train.
You couldn't see my grin behind the bandana, but... it was
there.
With my camera back in
my pocket, and my son double-timing it to get back inside the house, I turned my
pony's head towards the big, white countryside, walking down the long fenceline
towards the road. The windy snow took full advantage, hitting
hard as it blew past on almost a horizontal level. We were out
in the open now, with a hayfield to our right, and open pasturelands to our
left.
The snow stung the exposed
section of my cheeks like shards of glass. I ducked my head, turning
away slightly, keeping my eyes down until we reached the road.
The snowplows had been through only once, about 4 hours ago, so the snow had
re-built several inches, but it was enough to give my pony a break as he plowed
through the last knee-high snowdrift and set foot on the less taxing
pavement.
I was surprised to see a car
just a short distance up from me, clearly off the side of the road, and
was even more surprised to puffs of exhaust coming out of the tailpipe.
Obviously, the car was stuck, the driver now effectively in the middle of
nowhere. I shook my head. What idiot in their right mind would be
out in weather like this? Some people just don't listen to reason. I rode
up, peered into the fogged up windows, and saw a startled face looking up at
me. The side window rolled down, and I leaned over and asked if she needed
help. She smiled and thanked me profusely, saying that she worked for a
local farm, and they were sending their tractor out to get her.
That was good enough for
me. She would be OK. I told her if they didn't get there within the
hour, to just go up to my house (said pointing to the building which was almost
invisible in the blowing snow) and my husband would be glad to get something hot
to drink. She was very gracious, thanked me again, and I left,
heading the last few feet towards the intersection of a 3 mile gravel road
heading south.
I stopped at the head of the
road and looked down the snowy expanse of white. Except for one set
of 4-wheel drive tracks that were about 3 hours old, the road was virtually
untouched. These ancient gravel roads in the far western sections of the county
rarely see a plow when the conditions are this bad, and I suspected it probably
wouldn't be plowed one until Monday or Tuesday, at the earliest. It
was as if the clock had turned back, and I was in the winter of 1752 -- when
this county had been formed. This road had existed then, much the same as
it does today, and as it had in the winter of 1772.
I pulled my camera from my
pocket, took a shot, then guided my pony into one of the tracks. He stepped
carefully, then more confidently, heading down that endless ribbon of
white towards the back entrance of Foxlease estate, 2 miles down the road.
The upper stretch of the road was partly protected from the wind with a
hedgerow of short trees and wild berry shrubs. I glanced into the
wind at the big open field to my right, debating whether to shoot a photo
of that, then as a fierce gust of icy snow hit me full in the face, I changed my
mind. Better to wait until I was under the protection of the trees just
ahead before pulling out the camera again.