[poncho-mike]

It's 60F and sunny outside now, but it has rained almost non-stop since November. My yard is mush, and if this continues I'm worried my septic will back up. I never had septic tank issues before but this is about the mushiest my yard has ever been, and I've been in this house almost 30 years.

We have seen a few flakes of snow, no accumulation, and no ice yet. Areas just about 50 miles north had some serious ice storms this weekend but it was an all rain event here. The weather forecast shows more rain with no frozen precipitation, coldest temperature will be 26F.

If this rain keeps up, I think I'll need to start building an ark.

[ponyakr]

Well, after seeing that the forecast is calling for more ice Wed morning, I decided to see if I could make it out to our local Dollar General store, for some snack food. TJ usually does all the grocery shopping on Tues. But, looks like it may be late Fri or Sat, before the roads are thawed out.

Our little truck does not have a posi-trac rear. But, I figured if I went slow & careful I could make it safely to the store, which is probably only a mile away, as the crow flies.

Well, the early part of the trip went very well, since it was either downhill or level. Just stayed where I thought the main ruts should be. Stopped to take a pic of the little pond, which is right beside our little road thru the woods. It was still completely frozen over. We've lived here since 2004 & have not seen that happen before.

Didn't have any trouble 'til I tried to make it up the hill from our Parish gravel road, onto State hwy 810. Didn't get up enuff speed, so didn't quite make it onto the hwy. (3rd pic is one I took of this little intersection, on my way back home.)

So, I backed down the gravel road about 100' or so & got up all the speed I could, which was only about 25 mph. And I would have made it that time. But, just before pulling onto the hwy I saw that a pickup was coming, & was too close for me to make it.

So, I backed down the gravel road again & made another pass at it. This time, there was no other traffic, so I just barely made it up onto the hwy. Probably would have made it up the incline easier if I'd added a lot of weight in the truck bed. I was expecting to see a lot of asphalt showing thru the snow/ice. But, to my surprise, The road was still white & packed with snow/ice.

When I approached the intersection at our local fire station, I decided to gear down, rather than using the brake pedal. But, I hit low gear a little too soon & the rear end went to the side about 30° or a little more. So, I quickly shifted back to 2nd & didn't try that any more. Just began the stops way ahead of time, and did very light braking only when needed. Yeah, the roads were real slick.

I finally made it to the dollar store. As I figured, they were real busy. There were at least a dozen or more vehicles there(the most I've ever seen), most of which were pickups. The snow/ice in their parking lot had turned to slush because of the day's sunshine & all the traffic.

But, apparently all the traffic on the main road had packed the snow/ice so hard that it didn't melt. The extra ice that will be added Wed morn will make it a real mess. Will probably end up being several inches thick, if we get the fresh ice that is predicted.

The big brick building in the 4th pic, is the school gym. It was put into service in Jan of 1967. I played my last few home basketball games in it that year. That was before I owned a GTO. But, I wanted one.

[yahooskidoo]

You need to come to Minnesota.

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by yahooskidoo

You need to come to Minnesota.

No thanks !

Every winter I see that MN has lots of days where the temps are way below zero.

If I lived there, I'd move !

But, I reckin it's what you get use to. For most of those who were raised in cold climates, I suppose that's just the way they think life should be.

Don't think there has been any mass exodus from Canada, because of cold winter temps. And I suppose it gets 40 below & colder up there, every year.

The average Feb temps in our area are about 60° for highs & 40° for lows. That means that if we hit single digits & do not get above 32° for several days, it's a rare & major weather event.

https://www.google.com/search?q=aver...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[66sprint6]

There used to be a mass exodus from Canada. For about 2 weeks. We’d head to Florida where my wife’s parents had a place in Weeki Wachee. Or Costa Rica or Cuba. The special gift that we received from Asia put a crimp on that for the foreseeable future.

[ponyakr]

Low 20's here, with a sleet/freezing rain mix, & more coming our way.

https://weather.com/weather/hourbyho...445c575e426037

[ponyakr]

"...She has gone thru quite a few "trail dogs", during her 40+ years of Appy riding. Dogs just seem to love going on trail rides. We've never bought a dog. Most of 'em have just "showed up". There has been quite a variety. "

TJ finally found this pic. It was taken in Jan of 2000. She'd only had the horse less than a month. It shows 3 of her "trail dogs". 2 of 'em lived to make the move with us, from that location over to the place where we live now, back in 2004. TJ said that the most trail dogs she ever had on a ride was 5. Those were Roscoe P. Gravytrain, Rosey Red Pooh, Roxie Red Pooh, Rusty Red Pooh, & Lil Red. They were all the same color, which was sort of a reddish tan. We called it red. My favorite of all time was Roscoe. He was TJ's protector from any dogs along the trail that might indicate they wanted to attack. Once there were 2 Big German Bernards that ran down their driveway & acted like they wanted to attack the horse. Although out-sized & outnumbered, Roscoe never hesitated for a moment. He tore into the closest one & sent 'em both packin, back up their driveway. I think he caught 'em by surprise. Probably the 1st dog that ever challenged them. To me, he was sort of a hero dog. Like a brave police officer who runs toward the danger, rather than away from it. Yeah, I really loved that dog. It's sad that good dogs live such short lives. But, there are some that you just never forget.

This 1st pic also shows how we need to dress, on an average Jan day, here. All we usually need is a light jacket. If the wind is blowing, sometimes we need to add a knit cap down over the ears.

BUT, on rare occasions, we've had Winter storms in Dec, Jan, & Feb. I can even remember snow in late Mar, one year. I still had my '69 GTO on the street, & was working construction at our local paper mill, as an Ironworker. So, that would have been Mar of either '70 or '71. We went to work, but soon after we got there, it began to snow, pretty heavy, enuff to cover the roads. So, they told us to go home.

Well, me & an Ironworker friend loaded up my ice chest with brewsky, and cruised around for hours, on the country roads. Don't remember meeting a single vehicle. We'd stop right in the middle of the road, for pit stops. The Goat had a posi rear & radial tires. So it didn't seem to slip a bit, unless I wanted it to. Cut a donut in one big 4-way intersection. Other than that, I just puttered slowly right down the middle of the road. We just seemed to have the only vehicle on the road, that day. The roads were covered with snow, without a single tire track. It was very quiet & beautiful out on those country roads. It remains in my memory as a very unique day in my life.

[ponyakr]

Turned back down our Parish gravel road & as I crossed the creek bottom I got up all the speed I could, hoping to make it back up the hill, which is just North of our mail box.

Well, it started spinning a little, before reaching the top. But, I had up enuff speed to just barely make it over.

When I got back to our little road thru the woods, the tracks I'd made coming out were the only vehicle tracks. So, I've made the only drive in or out, since this started. No UPS or FedEx deliveries, & no mail. Don't figure there'll be any 'til Sat, or maybe Fri.

[carcrazy]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

It's 60F and sunny outside now, but it has rained almost non-stop since November. My yard is mush, and if this continues I'm worried my septic will back up. I never had septic tank issues before but this is about the mushiest my yard has ever been, and I've been in this house almost 30 years.

We have seen a few flakes of snow, no accumulation, and no ice yet. Areas just about 50 miles north had some serious ice storms this weekend but it was an all rain event here. The weather forecast shows more rain with no frozen precipitation, coldest temperature will be 26F.

If this rain keeps up, I think I'll need to start building an ark.

I haven't checked to see if the rain is a record but I've been here since the 70's and don't remember this much over such an extended period of time. Property is looking like a "hog waller" right about now! Definitely concerned about septic performance given that the soil is super saturated!

[ponyakr]

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...f3dCbwQ4dUDCA0