Just as the last of the snow had melted, and I was finally ready to begin my tank-finding excursion… another foot of the white stuff just had to fall. No joke – this was taken just a few days ago.
It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to crawl around under any junkyard cars today. At least I’ll have time to work on my (rather ambitious) spring cleaning inside the shop, which will make for much more enjoyable pictures once work resumes.
Worried that winter will never end? Me too. But never fear–despite this minor setback, we’ll still be making a bit of progress this week. As was the case last Friday, the coming Junkyard Outtake will feature another Project XJ6 tie-in.
I never followed the weather until I met my grandson-of-farmers boyfriend, but jeez, I didn’t think it could possibly snow this much in April (but if it’s cold, it might as well snow). There’s a reason my dad chose to move us to Granville, Ohio and St. Paul in 1992.
Keith-
I guess the timing for my posting today could have been better- I didn’t intend to follow your shot of your car burind in snow with my picture of the Soul Survivor sitting in snow free California.
If it’s any consolation, your shop is MUCH nicer than mine.
D/S
No sweat. Gives a reminder of what’s to come, once the weather finally improves!
3″ of snow fell in Detroit on April 15. At least it counted for something, set a new all time season snowfall record, with an inch to spare. The old record had stood since 1880, and the second highest total was some 20″ less.
But then, what is a record seasonal snowfall for Detroit is just a bit above average for the west Michigan lake effect belt, where I grew up.
I live just minutes south of St. Paul, and only managed to get rain out of that particular storm system. I was shocked to turn the news on the next day to hear the majority of the Metro got snow, and lots of it! Only in Minnesota…
I had to go from Hinckley to Brainerd and back on that day. Going up was fine… coming back would have been easy, if not for all the morons on the roads.
You name it, they were doing it – getting stuck or stopping in the middle of the road, spinning out, crawling along (15 in a 55), flying way too fast (50-60 in a 55 under whiteout conditions), driving down the middle of the road, etc. etc. etc.
When said people could manage to stay out of the way, it was easy going in the Suburban. My only other complaint was having to de-ice the wipers every half hour or so.
Your gas tank project is ambitious in my eyes. I’m looking forward (much more than you, I’m sure) to seeing what it takes.
Spring is around the corner. I found a tick on myself after walking the dog. That’s proof enough for me. The location is Iowa.
Hopefully those few days in the mid-60s followed by freezing temps and a foot of snow will hinder the mosquitoes’ progress. (Given my luck, though, it’ll only serve to make them stronger.)
If I found my car buried under this much snow, I’d freak. Minnesotans seem to take this sort of thing with sang froid. Can’t wait to see the Jag cruising.
Keith, that picture reminds me of a few springs growing up in northern “Minersoda” in the 50s & 60s and I don’t envy you; by march people in the far north of the Gopher state are pretty tired of the white stuff and can’t believe people actually pay to go up in the mountains of the west to play in the it, at least when I was there. That being said, I do miss the feeling of spring bursting out of the snow and after surviving another long winter we were grateful, grateful (as Bill Cosby used to say) for a nice warm spring and summer. As bad as the musketters get there they were out done by an infestation I saw once at a lake up in the mountains by Twin Sisters in Oregon. After living for three years in California, and enduring 300+ days of sunshine and heat (too much of a good thing is still too much) and wishing it would rain, hail, snow, anything! I was grateful, grateful, to move to the wonderful state of Oregon; where they actually have seasons, even if our rainy season is like an extended Minnesota springtime.
I really have been enjoying your articles on the Jag; something I wanted to do years ago but family, money, not ever finding the right car and having first hand experience in the vagaries of Lucas electrics in the English Fords I owned, stopped me. Good luck.