Saturday, February 13, 2010

9½ inches

No, get your minds out of the gutter.  That's how much snow we got on Thursday - setting an all time record for the amount of snow in a single day.  It continued snowing after midnight for a total of 12½ inches - setting yet another all time record for the amount of snow during a 24 hour period.  This picture is what I was greeted with from my front porch.

Now, for those of you who live in snow country - that might not seem like a lot.  But, you have to remember that we are not setup for this kind of weather.  I don't own a snow shovel - and I'm not sure I could even purchase one locally if I wanted to.  Our cities do not have adequate equipment to keep streets clear.  All of the area schools shut down on Friday.  Many businesses either shut down completely or ran on skeleton crews.  Over 200,000 homes were without power from downed power lines caused by broken tree branches weighted down by the snow.  I have a large 9 inch diameter tree branch that broke off of an old Oak tree in our back yard - luckily it missed the house when it fell.  But, I haven't quite decided what to do about it yet because it is too big and heavy for me to pull it out to the street for road crews to take - but I don't have the tools to chop it into smaller pieces.

Fortunately, since Friday morning, it's been above freezing; so, the snow has been melting a bit.  Yesterday I got out with a garden rake, shovel, and hoe to move some of the snow off of the driveway so that we could get our car out.  Today the roads are relatively clear; but, there is still several inches of snow all over the ground.

And I find myself feeling angry about it.  On Thursday evening I was planning on going to a photography seminar on composition sponsored by the Fort Worth camera club that I joined last month - and on Friday I was planning on getting together for lunch with a fellow MoHo who found my blog a few weeks ago.  Both of which had to be canceled.  I really don't get out much; if everything was going to get shut down for two days - why did it have to be those two days?  The two days before or after would have been just fine.  Oh well, I guess I should just resign myself to be a hermit.

5 comments:

Ned said...

Abe, sounds like you might be in the market for a chain saw. ;)

I have finally gotten around to writing my first crush story.

Here you go...

.

Unknown said...

It was just cold and wet here in San Angelo. We always just barely miss the snow!

And wow... I didn't know you guys had that much up there! I couldn't even imagine such a city dealing with that.

Anonymous said...

http://northstarlds.org/

Abelard Enigma said...

Ned - I do like getting new tools; but, chain saws are scary. I sent an email to my PH leader and am hoping someone in my ward has one

Evan - I think the snow only went as far south as I-20 - below that it was mostly rain. Even today (Tuesday) we still have patches of snow on the ground. But, the roads, driveways, and parking lots are all clear.

Anonymous - I'm confused. I'm miffed that we got so much snow - so I should join North Star???

Beck said...

I can't believe the amount of snow you are having this year! Have any of your more exotic pond plants suffered any irreversible consequences?