Winter Storm Curtis

 Who's Curtis ?  Well , he's Mooontana's Jackie Purcell, the weather guru. When he says 12 inches of snow overnight that's what you get. Exactly ten years ago me and MPeasy chased Winter Storm Atlas as we drove across North Dakota to Minnesota to see Max. That storm was impressive and so was this one so I figured I'd name it myself .  Now retired #003 knows snow, I've been around it my entire life but there's always more to learn and this is what I'm learning ( the hard way of course ) is that Montana weather is just more dynamic that Alaska. You see in Alaska it starts raining or snowing and it does that for 5 days straight until you get 16 inches, around here it happens quick, 12 inches one night then a bonus 4 inches for a fantastic total of 16 in 24 hours. Kinda like the toad strangler that hit July 3rd 2021 and delivered an unbelievable 2 1/2 inches of rain in about 30 minutes. Here's a pic of our house...

We love this house, one story so no stairs and a beautiful expansive view . It has wonderful outdoor living spaces and mature landscape which means privacy....BUT...there's always the 'didn't think of that deal. We're on a fairly steep hill so now I know what Chris and Melinda on the Hillside of Anchorage go through to have their fantastic view...The morning we woke up to Winter Storm Curtis was exciting, I've never seen so many Subaru's stuck along side the road. People would pull to the right to pass someone turning and walla, the thick wet snow grabs the car and stops it next tot he curb....But Montanan's are a bit like Alaskan's everyone pitches in with the first batch of non-understanders and then things go smoothly the rest of the day. Here's the entryway at our health club.

So we do what we've always done in this situation....the car stays in the garage and the truck and camper are safe and sound under the new carport that was the last structure build of my life.  Then we shovel and the area around our porch could be prone to flooding so I use the wheel barrel to take all the snow out into the lawn....I hope you're enjoying that trusty snow blower I left you Mike because that is about the only regret I have in my life right now . We spend the day reading , a guy only needs so much news this day and age....Then about pre-cocktail hour we decide to walk down to the Casino to jokingly make a withdrawal.  They were happy to see us . Now I never hardly gamble but MP she likes to play the reels a bit and turn a 25 dollar breakfast into 40 dollar breakfast sometimes.  It's her upbringing I guess, she loves the hope, the mystery but she was taught to conserve everything so she will never lose any money to speak of . But me...well I usually go full speed ahead and man the torpedoes, that's why I seldom gamble.

So I get an ace and a King dealt to me and then the 10, Jack and Queen come on the draw...Walla !!!...the holy grail for video poker players . So now I've gambled twice in the last year and this is my second Royal Flush. Did I ever tell ya'all that I'm an awful lucky guy ?  It's just a shame to use up your moe-joe on $$$$$ when life's challenges await . So we left and walked home and the next day resisted the temptation to go again...It's called Balance . 

And that's the report from storm central.  We'll be Mazatlan soon and thanks to St. Pete's physical therapy and re hab I'm feeling like I can fish, all be it a bit slower I suppose . Hope ya come along.