View from the North 40: Testing 1,2,3 … the image is snowy

Winter is coming. It’s all everybody can talk about.

This weekend’s storm is going to descend from the frozen Arctic wasteland of Canada’s hinterlands, envelop the Rockies in snow, roll it down the Rocky Mountain Front and sucker punch us right in the middle of autumn.

And just like that, winter is coming. Then it’s going to sit around all week, astraddle of our prone bodies, poking us in the chest like it’s trying to type a letter to grandma.

Sure it’s cool when winter comes in hard and fast, Hollywood style in “Game of Thrones,” but in real life, the general reaction is a crazy mash-up of the dramatic wailing of mourners and some horror movie screams of terror.

But a surprising number of people, like me, are just thinking, “Again? Really?”

Another fall snow storm is predicted to blow in hard over the weekend, wipe out some trees and power lines and muck up the roads, maybe break a few things for good measure. Then it’s going to stick around to freeze out any opportunity we might’ve had for beautiful fall colors. It’s supposed to be 17 degrees — in September — and we’re going, “Meh.”

I commented to a woman from Jacksonville, Florida, that I bet she wishes she was on her flight back to Florida about now. It was a safe bet because she’s lived in Florida for most of her 70-some years, but she was all, “No, I was here in 2017 for that September storm so ...” and she just shrugged. It was like, Et tu, 2019? Whatevs.

I know what you’re telling yourself: She’s from northern Florida, so she must be used to colder temps. But, no, I think that the early September storm in 2017 broke some of us, her included, and if that didn’t do it to you the deep snows and bitter temps thrown at us in waves since has completed the task.

I think, though, these early storms are like pop quizzes.

They surprise us a bit, but since they count very little toward our final grade, they just act as a wakeup call, or a slightly rude way to assess our readiness for the real test ahead. The only people they weed out are those who realize they are destined to fail miserably in the big test of actual winter and the quitters who don’t want to put in the work.

In light of the upcoming cold temps, I figured I should get clean filters for my furnace. That’s one answer right on the winter-preparation quiz, and while I was at the store I decided to stock up on some crucial items.

I bought granola, eggs and pop, but my winter prep didn’t stop there. I also set out a new hay bale for the horses, filled the pickup with gas, mowed half the yard and lost my shovel. I have flannel sheets on the bed, dog and cat food stocked up, chili in the freezer, all the fixin’s for homemade pizza and no idea if the generator will run or not.

I did not, however, get the storm windows put in, but I figure that’ll give me something to keep myself amused when the power goes out.

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It’s just a pop quiz, folks, a little test run to find the weak points and shake the cobwebs out. Just breathe through it at http://www.facebook.com/viewfromthenorth40 .