{surviving the winter} vocabulary

Here is an (incomplete) list of words that have become part of my everyday vocabulary since moving to Vermont:

sidewalk man: a mini plow that plows the sidewalks

negative 1: monday's high

twenty below: tomrrows low

cold: as defined by my Vermonter friend that taught \ in alaska for 7 years "...truly the absence of heat"

valentines day blizzard: hit during my first vermont winter. snowfall was tracked on our window with eyeliner. major snowstorm affected Vermont and northern New York on Wednesday, 14 February 2007. Widespread 20 to 30 inch snow amounts were received from the Adirondacks eastward across much of central and northern Vermont, with isolated amounts near 3 feet. The storm set a new 24-hour snowfall record in Burlington, Vermont at 25.3 inches, exceeding the previous mark of 23.1 inches set on 14 January 1934. Source: National Weather Service

gaiter: protective lower leg covering

turtles: neckwarmer

sliding: sledding

skins: things you put on ski to make the below activity possible

skiing UP a mountain: an activity insane people do

snowshoes: they don't look like this anymore

snowshoeing: a winter activity one does to stay sane

snowcat: truck things that takes crazy skiers to untouched snow, often in british columbia

backcountry skiing: skiing off the trails, in ungroomed snow, some people do it before coming into work

sasquatch: my boyfriend in winter

snow day: a day when beth and karen are really happy and im really jealous. usually followed by me shouting "i should have been a teacher!"

plow snow: the really heavy wet nasty snow the plow pushes to the end of the driveway

tom messner: a.k.a. "Smilin' Tom" the man we count on to bring us our weather

powder day: when a certain number of inches fall, Burton doesn't have work. all companies should have this policy.

glittens: glove/mittens

noreaster: a big storm that brings lots of snow, hits the northeast coast of the U.S. and moves form south to north. the valentines day blizzard was a noreaster.

parking ban: the reason we had to park a car at our nighbors in the 22 1/2 days. various towns have them. some towns, you can't park on the street from miidnight to 6 each night from november -april, some towns only when a big stom is expected. in burlington, yellow lights flash on the side of the road informing residents when it's on, much like a school zone. i wonder where the switch is to activate the lights, i wonder WHO gets to flip it.

wipers up: when alot of ice is expected people pull up their windshield wiper blades at night, to prevent freezing to the windshield.

salt fingers: when your fingers get salty and gross from touching your dirty car

underbelly snow: that snow that gets stuck behind your tires. the snow you kick off in public parking lots so you dont have to deal with it in your driveway. gives great satisfaction to get rid of it, much like popping a zit or peeling sunburn.