Mother Nature deals dose of reality

For several winters now, we have been lulled into an illusion.

Mother Nature has been decidedly in one of her better moods and has seen fit to take it relatively easy on us.

It’s been so many winters since we’ve had enough snow to warrant plows and blowers that several of my personal “go to” friends and acquaintances have sold or gotten rid of them.

This past weekend, someone or something stirred the old gal up and she decided to remind us all that, although global warming is a nice idea that looks good on paper, it has absolutely no bearing on her whims and moods.

She unleashed a fury unlike anything I’ve personally seen in many years.

A swath of snow stretching more than 2,000 miles ran from New Mexico to Maine, covering well over three-quarters of the population in the continental U.S.

I recall those huge piles of plowed and bulldozed snow in shopping center parking lots after the Blizzard of 1978.

This storm, although it didn’t produce the same totals here locally, covered more territory.

It’s certainly going to be a while before we dig our way out of this one.

I was stranded after a late Saturday evening delivery between Louisville and Indianapolis and had to wait it out. The snow totals were higher to the south but eventually covered a vast swath of the U.S.

Bitter cold followed and is still a nuisance this morning as I work alongside a river in West Virginia on Wednesday morning.

The allure of beautiful waterfront property sure hits different at 9 below zero when you’re out working in a balmy breeze blowing across the frozen river than it does on a lazy summer day.

I don’t know who or what upset her so badly, but Mother Nature can just calm down. This was a reality check that we still indeed live in a winter-weather climate, and she decided not to let us forget it this year.

Message received loud and clear as I chip ice out of my beard and mustache this morning!