Snow Storm Brings Wife Home

Eastern Europe was blasted by a heavy snow storm and blizzard conditions, from what I gathered on the news.  The temperatures were not cold but at least two deaths reported in Odessa of homeless people. Transportation in several Oblasts is shut down until they get the highways cleared. Here in Zhovti Vody the storm lasted from sometime early Sunday night until sometime early Tuesday morning.

Normally, being snug and warm and all, I would have enjoyed the storm but Tanya was trying to make her way home from Moscow.  The weather had fought her the entire way.  Last week Moscow was shut down because of snow.  Friday she was scheduled to fly out of Abakan and to arrive in Moscow by 9:00 am.  Moscow was clear; Abakan was socked in.  The airline sent everyone by bus to Krasnoyarsk (400 km, 6 hours) and she flew out at 3:00 am Saturday morning arriving in Moscow five hours later at 4:00 am.  She had a somewhat shorter visit with our friends Galina and Zhenia than planned but still got to the theatre.

They put her on the train about noon Sunday.  It was already storming here and I had warned her that the roads to Dnipropetrovsk would be impassable and that she may have to stay overnight.  Like that was going to happen.  When Tanya decides, nothing gets in her way.  She got into Dnipro at 10:00 am Monday and jumped onto the Express train to Kyiv which stops at P'yatikhatki, our nearest railway station, 30 km from here, to arrive at 1:30 pm.  Andrei set out to meet her.  He is a good son.

Not sure how far he got but ended up like several others, stuck in a snow bank.  Time to call reinforcements.  One of his friends had a 4WD army type truck with a closed in box for hauling soldiers or whatever.  He and Andrei got to the railway station about 4:00 pm.  On the way back to ZV, he picked up 15 people stuck in the snow. They got within 3 long blocks of our place and Tanya walked the rest of the way in the storm dragging her suitcases.  I went to meet her but had to shovel out the gate so I could leave the yard. She was home safe by 6:30 pm.

Tanya was up bright and early this morning reclaiming her home after 40 days away.  The storm had stopped and she wanted the front gate closed.  I call her "Mrs Now".  She calls me "Mr Tomorrow".  I went out and shoveled the front walk as far as the gate and closed it. The rest could wait.  My theory is that if you put things off long enough most don't need to be done anyhow.  Monday I had also shoveled the walk during a lull in the storm and for all the good it did me. . . like putting a suppository in your Postum.  At about 1:00 pm, two boys showed up looking to shovel snow. (See, I told you).

Not only did they finish shoveling the walk; they also dug out the dog house and moved it into the outbuilding.  So when that -25C hits the dogs will be snug and warm.  We gave them each $5 and they were thrilled.  So was I.

Snow blew in level with the centre of the gate, effectively rendering it useless

Trench warfare

The boys shoveled a path to the dog yard.  Our street will not be plowed until spring

The wind made fancy patterns with the solid fence.