SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW

Snow for sale!  Get your snow!  Get it while it lasts!  I have a great price for you.  And I'll throw in the cold for free!

View from the car of my neighbor's front door on the way to work yesterday.

I suppose by now you have all heard about the monster storm that hit the east coast I-95 corridor.  Philly was right in the midst of it and I heard on TV that we may have gotten the worst of it.
 

The street from my car as I am starting out.  You can't see where the sidewalk ends and the street begins.

 I kept watching the news and looking at the city's website hoping that we wouldn't have work yesterday.  Everything said the city was open.  So I got out early, cleaned off my car (a major job) and s-l-o-w-l-y made my way to work.  I usually have the Christian station on, but yesterday I put on KYW -- all news all the time.  And as I am over half-way to work I hear that the city is shutting down at 12:30.  Great!  So after driving for 40 minutes (usually a 10-15 minute drive) I made it to work.

The yard at the library -- what you can see of it.

 So I went in to work for 1/2 hour and then we left.  Would you believe that people were lined up outside of the library trying to get in?  Are they nuts?!
 

My mailbox has a "hat".

It was a terrible drive home and took me almost an hour.  I was driving 15 mph going in, but in just 30 minutes it had deteriorated to where I could go only 5 mph.  And I wasn't the only one!  It was impossible to keep the back window clear.  The snow was falling so quickly and blowing around that the car was covered as fast as I could get it off.  At one intersection I tried to stop but couldn't and slid right on out.  Fortunately the new car has anti-lock brakes and I used them for the first time.  I was thanking God for them because I think they saved my life.

When I got home my parking space was still there.  I was worried about that and was so thankful to see it waiting for me.  The 16 year old guy that lives a couple of doors from me had done my sidewalk.  I told him he should have waited because the snow was still coming down.  But he actually shoveled two more times for us.  Joe's a great kid.

My car looks cleaned off because I had just gotten home from work.

 I went into the house and began taking pictures through the windows.  The back yard was incredible.

The holly tree is wearing a white coat.

 There was a big difference between 1:30 p.m.

And 2:30 p.m.

Picnic anyone?

I took some more pictures last night around 5:45 p.m.  Even worse.  It snowed for 12 hours.  Officially we got 11 inches, but in some places the drifts are up to 20 inches.  It's that light, fluffy snow that looks beautiful, glistens, and blows around.

This wall between my yard and my neighbor's is about 3 1/2 feet all.  You can barely see it!

 We got the news last night that the city is closed again today so that I don't have to go to work.  I'm glad because I don't know how I would get there.

The back steps are gone!  And I can't even open the door.

There is no way to get to the bird feeder.  I feel so bad about that.

I am so glad that I bought myself a new pair of boots on Monday.  I have not had boots for years, getting along with sneakers, but we haven't had snow in several years.  I wore the boots yesterday and they were comfy and helped a lot.

The house is so cold.  It is 4 degrees (wind chill -15) and no matter how high I put the heat, there is no way a brick house is going to be warm.  I put on the fire in the stove and I am going to put on a couple of layers to stay warm.  I may be doing a lot of cooking today too.  Maybe some baking to get that oven going and make the kitchen warm.

Jenny (the black cat) is at the vet's.  She had surgery yesterday to remove three tumors from her belly.  She came through it fine and has 25 stitches.  We are supposed to get her tomorrow.  Snowy (the white cat) is enjoying being the only cat.  I so wish they would get along.  Maybe someday.

I am going to go get something to eat and start my day.  I am so very glad to stay home today.

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Tuesday's weather
Snow
High:  37 degrees
Low:  14 degrees (wind chill -1*)
Sunrise:  7:17 a.m.
Sunset:  5:06 p.m.
9 hours and 49 minutes of daylight