The "Blizzard of '08"

It started snowing yesterday while I was getting my hair cut at 9 in the morning. By the end of the haircut it was sticking. The woman cutting my hair said that they were saying 8-12 inches off this storm. That seemed a bit excessive. I've never seen more than 5 inches off a storm since I've lived here (although a couple of inches plus 1-2 inches of ice is as hazardous as feet of snow and we have seen that a couple of times.)

Anyways, even though the evening news the night before has said snow this weekend, I hadn't checked before leaving the house when the weather was clear. So I had walked there in regular shoes. I hadn't even taken gloves, although I had worn my rain/snow coat in anticipation of the regular freezing rain. In other words, totally unprepared. Justin was meeting me at the coffee shop next door to do a child exchange so he could get his hair cut. So, we went through with that and Martin and I walked home.

BUT, I had things that needed to get done. Specifically, I had an application for a rental being faxed to Justin's office that needed to be priority mailed back to Oregon THAT DAY. So, I planned on driving the 1/2 mile there and the 1/2 mile to the post office and going home. By 1pm when the application arrived, Justin verrified that the main street bordering the university was VERY backed up - only 3 or 4 inches, but central Ohio has virtually no plowing capacity (for example, the news just reported that the airport was out clearing runways with "trucks and brooms"). So, I bundled little Martin up and off we went. Martin slept under his blanket the whole way. Filled out the application, Justin offered to walk it to the post office. Done.

I walked home (declining a ride from a ward member - although good for her for being willing to carry on with her day). Martin REFUSED to have his head covered. He just had to look out. So I let him. We got home and he looked like this.


And the news was reporting on the "Blizzard of '08". Ha ha ha. We had maybe 4 inches at that point and some wind, but it was definently not a blizzard. It turns out that Central and Southern Ohio have been and remain under a blizzard warning from the National Weather Service. The winds aren't quite high enough for blizzard conditions, but it snowed all night long so we are up to about 8-10 inches with blowing snow. Certainly a big storm. But not really a blizzard.

This is our backyard when we woke up. Now I'm off to see if we have church tomorrow. The ward activity last night was canceled. It is supposed to snow steadily until 4pm. Anywhere else, I'd say church at 1 is a safe bet. BUT, I doubt the roads will be plowed by then. Hmmm.