Snow Storm 2011

Well, in case you didn’t know it, the reason I’ve been MIA for the past couple of days is because those of us in North Alabama are in the midst of a winter snow storm and who knows when it’s going to go away – it doesn’t appear to be any time soon.

Last week the weather forecasters predicted that we were going to get a lot of snow and for what feels like the first time, they finally got it right. They predicted 6-10 inches and I had a little over eight at my house. Some areas got more, some area got less, but in Huntsville, the general consensus seems to be between eight and nine inches. It’s the third largest snowfall on record for this area!

Eight inches here

Nine inches there

My feet in the snow.

The snow started coming down about 8:45 or so on Sunday night. I kept looking out the windows Sunday evening and told The Tide multiple times that it probably wasn’t even going to snow but once it started it came down in droves and within 15 minutes or so the ground was completely covered. At 10:00 I turned on the news and the weatherman was talking about thundersnow – in a matter of minutes, the thundersnow came. It was unbelieveable. Lightning, thunder and snow – I had never in my life experienced such a thing.

I got up at my normal time on Monday, but didn’t go in to work because the roads were impassable and people were advised to stay home and that’s what I did. I let The Tide out at that time and I had a difficult time getting the back door open. Once she got outside, I think she was a little confused.

The Tide at 5:30 a.m. on Monday.

I'm sure she was wondering what the heck was going on.

Snow piled up at the back door.

It's a grill snow cone!

About 10:00 or so The Tide and I headed outside and played for a couple of hours. I took some photos of the house and the goings on and mostly of The Tide rolling around in the snow as if it were a lush blanket. I built a snowman, (sorry Barner fans, but mine snowman was a Duck fan; although I am glad the National Championship stayed in the SEC) and threw snowballs at The Tide. I tried to get her to go for a walk but she wasn’t too keen on that idea. I asked some people walking down the street to take a photo of me and The Tide but the girl couldn’t figure out how to operate my camera even though I explained it to her. Oh well; should have asked someone else I guess. While I was building my snowman, my neighbor Jeff came over to bring me the latest New York Times which he does from time to time.

This is a lovely self portrait.

My snowman

The Tide is checking out the snowman

The Tide treats the snow as though it were a lush blanket.

Again

And again

This was my attempt at getting a photo of me and The Tide together.

The Tide and I went back inside around noon and I warmed up some gumbo that the same neighbor Jeff had given me the day before. It was quite yummy. The Tide and I spent the rest of the day watching TV and reading. Well, she mostly slept.

Yesterday I finally ventured out of the house on a walk. I didn’t even bother asking The Tide if she wanted to come along. I walked down to the Dollar General to get some sweetened condensed milk to make some snow cream. On my walk I passed a mail truck that was stuck in the snow. I asked the mailman if he was stuck and he said yes that he was trying not to hit the mailbox. He had already called the tow truck. This situation was somewhat funny to me considering the postal service creed of “"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" although I now understand that’s not the official creed even though many people, including myself believe it to be so. I also came across the coolest snowman; well, it was a snow cat I guess.

The snow cat

My road on the way home from my walk to the Dollar General

I got to the Dollar General and grabbed the item I needed and decided to peruse the store a bit since I was there. All their Christmas stuff was 75% off but there was nothing that caught my eye. While I was looking at these items, however, the song “Closing Time” came on the radio. I love this song. It’s an old favorite from college and so I danced around the aisles a little bit and sang the song. When the song was ending, I went up to the counter to pay and the cashier (a man) belted out the last few words of the song and it cracked me up. He then proceeded to tell me how they always played that song at Bar Nashville as it was closing and he would sing it. I told him it was indeed a catchy tune.

I walked back home and went a little bit of a different way for a minute or two because I saw a snow creation that caught my eye and I wanted to check it out. Turns out it wasn’t anything to write about, but at the same time I passed a man building something out of the snow and I wondered what it was. When I passed by there this morning, I discovered it was a large beer bottle made out of snow. Hey, whatever floats your boat I guess. I also passed the stuck mail truck again and I guess he had tried to move the truck a bit because he had indeed hit that mailbox he was so desperately trying to avoid. I gave him a wave and a laugh and he did the same.

After I got home, I made some snow cream and gave some to Jeff. He said his mother made it when he was growing up (in upstate NY) and then came back into the warmth to do some more reading resting and TV watching.

So, that about sums up the past two days or so for me. I’m back at work today and it’s snowing again. I probably will leave early today in order to beat the traffic and try to avoid any accidents. As I’m sure you know, I don’t have the most stellar record these days when it comes to driving.

My car. This was a little before 7:00 a.m. on Monday.

Yes, I've got Blue back - got her back on Sunday afternoon!

View from the front porch about 7:00 a.m. on Monday

My street

The Tide is having some fun!

Candy - please note her ear is up even when in running mode!

The fire hydrant in front of my house.

The steps going up to my front porch.