Okay, so I'm always a skeptic when Southerners get in a tizzy about winter snow. Except this time it was warranted. Last night five inches of snow fell on us in a period of about three hours. 8:00 there was nothing, at 11:00 I was going around in five inches of deep dry snow, knocking it off the branches of our trees and bushes that were bending under the weight of it. Overnight it changed to sleet and freezing rain. Ellen and I worked on the front drive to clear it, fearing it would turn into three inches of solid ice if we just left it. We worked with a spade shovel, a push broom, and some pool salt. Honestly, there were no snow shovels at Home Depot on Saturday. I looked. They hadn't just run out, you can't buy them easily in metro Atlanta. Anyway, school was canceled today and has already been canceled for tomorrow. It might be worse on Tuesday with road surfaces freezing overnight. There is very little in the way of snow removal, people don't have snow tires, the roads are hilly, and people don't know how to drive in slippery conditions. Fulton County government, which has a "never close" policy, closed at noon today (I didn't even bother trying to get in) and has told nonessential personnel (librarians, can you figure?) not to report until Wednesday! Don't know how I'll have to record it on my timesheet-- sick day or will they just treat me like a salaried employee? (yes, I have to keep a timesheet, but that's another story). Anyway, it's an adventure! [traffic picture above is our exit on 285 this afternoon]
Monday, January 10, 2011
Southern Snow
Okay, so I'm always a skeptic when Southerners get in a tizzy about winter snow. Except this time it was warranted. Last night five inches of snow fell on us in a period of about three hours. 8:00 there was nothing, at 11:00 I was going around in five inches of deep dry snow, knocking it off the branches of our trees and bushes that were bending under the weight of it. Overnight it changed to sleet and freezing rain. Ellen and I worked on the front drive to clear it, fearing it would turn into three inches of solid ice if we just left it. We worked with a spade shovel, a push broom, and some pool salt. Honestly, there were no snow shovels at Home Depot on Saturday. I looked. They hadn't just run out, you can't buy them easily in metro Atlanta. Anyway, school was canceled today and has already been canceled for tomorrow. It might be worse on Tuesday with road surfaces freezing overnight. There is very little in the way of snow removal, people don't have snow tires, the roads are hilly, and people don't know how to drive in slippery conditions. Fulton County government, which has a "never close" policy, closed at noon today (I didn't even bother trying to get in) and has told nonessential personnel (librarians, can you figure?) not to report until Wednesday! Don't know how I'll have to record it on my timesheet-- sick day or will they just treat me like a salaried employee? (yes, I have to keep a timesheet, but that's another story). Anyway, it's an adventure! [traffic picture above is our exit on 285 this afternoon]
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Post pictures of your yard! And it was smart to knock the snow off- with sleet/freezing rain on top of that much snow, you'd have lost branches.
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