My informal snow total for the winter is currently at 96 1/2 inches. What's interesting about this is that it's now been 9 days since we've had any measurable accumulation. Even more remarkably, we haven't had more than an inch and a half of snow since February 23rd. It's been warm enough, on and off, that most of the snow piles deposited by the snow plows on the corners of the roads around here have even disappeared.
I have to say that I expected much worse from our first winter in Newfoundland. The locals assure me that winter is generally much more snowy. The temperatures this year have been colder than usual, but the snowfall has been much less than is typical.
Local folklore has it that every year soon after St. Patrick's Day there will be one last fierce snowstorm before Spring will arrive. They call this storm Sheila's Brush. Apparently, the legend says that Sheila was either the wife, mother, or housekeeper of Patrick (before he was a saint, of course), and when he asked her to clean the house she swept with such fury that she stirred up a storm.
I'm curious to see if we'll get a chance to witness Sheila's Brush in the next week since this has been such a mild and strange winter by Newfoundland standards. I know a hundred of inches of snow over the course of winter sounds like a lot, but it's definitely much less than the Newfoundlanders usually see.
I could be inviting trouble or jinxing myself here, but bring it on Sheila. I want to see what you've got. My snowpants haven't gotten nearly enough wear this year, and the kids want one more snow day.
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