TIME TO DIG OUT. It's clear, calm, and cold - time to start digging out. The yardstick reads 18-3/4 inches and since the snow has compressed some, the real snowfall is likely 4-6 inches greater than the measurement.

The sun is out, it's a beautiful day, and somewhere under the snow is a driveway.

That lonely "stick" is the foreground is actually the top of a 4-foot high bush in the patio flowerbed.

The snow on the deck rails is about 18" deep. Our firewood pile is completely buried in the background along the tree line.