Chicken Little Was Right!

Yesterday the sky fell on us. Never in my life do I remember this much snow practically all at once. First we had a huge snowfall over the weekend. I measured 19 inches on the table on my deck. Just as we got dug out of that, yesterday's blizzard hit. This time I measured 18 inches on the same table which I had completely cleared before the new snow started to fall. The weather people are reminding us of another blizzard in the winter of '95-96 that measured 30 inches and I remember that one well. The whole area was in a state of emergency and roads were closed and people ordered to stay home. That was a lot of snow...30 inches. But this was worse. I'm looking at 37 inches piled in drifts 6 feet high. But that isn't the worst part.

Here's a picture of my pergola in happier times.


Here's a picture of it today.



It collapsed under the weight of the snow early yesterday evening. I had been watching it all day; I knew it was going to go. I could see the nails pulling out of the support beams and I figured it was just a matter of time. I was pacing the floor, wringing my hands and gnashing my teeth. I was afraid to even go in the kitchen or dining room because I was afraid it might explode under all that snow and send the beams crashing through my windows. The worst part was how helpless I felt. I was virtually trapped in the house with the snow slamming into everything and all paths out cut off. I finally called poor Amy to say goodbye, in case I didn't make it. She assured me it wasn't going to explode, but that the weight of the snow would drop it straight down. I tried to believe her because that thought had also occurred to me, but I was still very nervous. I was huddled in the bedroom, venturing out every so often to peek at it. Finally, at about 4:30 I looked and it was just gone. Gone. All I could see were the upright posts sticking up. It had dropped just as she said. I never even heard it. It just dropped silently onto the deck itself, partially cushioned I guess by all the snow underneath it. I felt sad, but vastly relieved. It was down and it hadn't smashed into the house.



Nothing much to do now except wait for the spring melt. Poor pergola.