Monday, February 8, 2010

Survival Mystery a la Snowmagedon

Well, well. Take a guess at what happened here.


I'll lead you through this one. I wanted to go up the hill in the backyard to see how many limbs broke off the white pine.

You can't walk easily in the yard because with each step you take you just post hole down two feet. So I strapped on the snowshoes.


I tried trekking straight up the hill but my feet kept landing sideways in the snow. I probably went up about a foot per minute. My heartbeat went aerobic in just a few steps.


I realized that I needed to walk diagonally up the hill.


Somewhere along the way I lost my hat. I didn't know at the time because I had on a face mask under the hat and didn't feel it when it flew off.


Walking on the level ground on the top of the hill was so easy, I left the trekking poles behind. I wanted to photograph the tree and these were in the way.


I got a few shots of the tree...and then....


TIMBER!!! Yeah, me, not the tree. I fell down.


For about 30 seconds I thought it was funny. I took these shots to show my predicament. Little did I know.

At this point I didn't realize that I had lost my cute little pink hat that I knitted my very own self.
I thought I'd be popping right back up after this shot.

Let me just say that what followed was not a pretty sight. Every time that I tried to push myself off the "ground" to get up, my arm sank two feet down in the snow. Having left the trekking poles 20 feet away, getting up was no easy task. The word "wallow" comes to mind.

I figured the best I could do was to take off the snowshoes and post hole my way back to the house. Unfortunately, I could barely maneuver my feet around with these giant planks on my feet. I had to contort myself just to reach the clasps. Then I discovered that the clasps were all frozen.

I didn't get to the point of crying, but gnawing off my legs at the knee seemed like an option. I looked around to see if any neighbors were looking. They weren't. YEA! but then again...there was no one around to rescue me.

I was envisioning the episodes I'd seen of "Survivorman" in the arctic, to see if I could recall what he might do in this situation. All I could remember was that maybe he found some dead moose carcus to gnaw on to keep him alive. That didn't seem applicable.

Eventually I contorted myself enough to wiggle my feet out. I have no idea how long it took to accomplish this, but it really felt like forever.


I post holed my way across the yard and down the hill; gathered my lost and discarded gear; and walked defeated back into the house.

Alive. = )

15 comments:

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

I know one shouldn't get such a chuckle out of a sweet blogging friends predicament...

I am certainly glad you are safe and sound and quite amazed that you had the fortitude to capture pictures of it all! I admire your courage and creative ability to survive the various situations you encounter. You are a very fun person! :)

Always a joy (and adventure) to visit you!
Kindly, ldh

Diane Grenkow said...

What luck you had the camera with for documentation purposes! : )

Enjoy your snow and time at home!

Snippety Gibbet said...

Lucky? I guess so. I had taken the camera up the hill to snap photos of broken tree limbs. I'm actually posting the photos in the opposite order that I took them. I had no idea I would have an adventure out there.

Julie said...

You know...that was too close for comfort. Crap!!! And to think I told you to STAY WARM!!! OMG...I am so glad you escaped this disaster and I hope by now you are all warm and toasty...with hot chocolate and a fire, and warm dogs!!!

Jenny said...

I love that you are willing to share this story, pictures and all.

Unknown said...

Love this post! Glad to see there are others as graceful as me...LOL

Kim at Thistle Dew said...

Snippety, I just popped over to see what was going on in your blogging corner! So glad you made it back to the house safely! Goodness me, what an adventure!

Sara Bowen said...

Wow, Jan, that's one way to warm up in the cold weather! Love the photos... made me laugh, too (but with you not at you, if you see what I mean). I'm glad you managed to get out of there! Sara x

Tara said...

WOW, can't believe all that snow. We don't get snow like that around here.
Looks like you had a great adventure.
Hugs,
Tara

Snippety Gibbet said...

I talked to my elderly neighbor on the phone a minute ago. He said that he saw me trekking up the hill, but swears he didn't see the drama that ensued. Yeah, right. ; )

Lisa at lil fish studios said...

I found you through ZenCrafting - Pat's blog, and I'm sitting here laughing my head off. This same sort of 'wallowing' happened to me a few weeks ago. I too was snowshoing, and bent down to take a pic when I realized that my aging knees needed a little help. I reached down to push myself off and sank to my face in snow. I was in our back woods, rolling around trying to right myself. There wasn't anyone to see me, but when I finally dragged myself back to the house, I was covered in snow which kind of gave me away.

I love that you took pics of your (ahem) adventure. Thanks for sharing them.

Unknown said...

OMG Jan!! I'm hate to admit but I had a little giggle but I hasten to add it was in sympathy. You see when we got 26 inches last March, I also toppled over on our drive and literally could not get up. Just how you described, my arms would sink in and I just couldn't do it. The Hubster had to literally come and lift me up again and that was a comedy too!

So sympathy but great piccies!

Unknown said...

Okay now just had another big giggle at Lisa above me!!

Melissa said...

Jan, this is a great story. You must be getting all the snow we usually get out here. The West has been short of snow this year. Your story inspired a papercut. I would love to share it with you. If you are interested, send me an email at clarkcuts@gmail.com, and I'll send you a picture. Good luck with all that snow.

jackie said...

Yes, I'm totally laughing WITH you not AT you. Oh sweet nelly, what a story!! You are a gem for sharing it too. I cracked up at the thought of you gnawing your leg off and pondering what Survivor Man might do. I'm thinking you should have skinned the dead sheep you found in your yard and then crawled inside the skin to stay warm. :P