We had a few snow days here recently, which is unusual for this area for the snow to stick and stay on the ground. Joe & Isaac had several days off of school due to the snow staying on the ground a day or two. It was amazing to see how an inch of snow really causes a lot of problems in areas like this where there are a lot of hills, etc and they don't have snow removal equipment or salt trucks to deice the roads. The first snow day was unexpected. The weather forecast said it would hit east of us and we wouldn't get any accumulation. By 10am snow was sticking to the ground and schools started panicking and letting the kids out immediately. So imagine, all area schools releasing the kids early so buses are now on the road along with lots of parents and others that are frantically trying to get home. But the roads have an inch of snow on the ground now and everyone is sliding because it's slick. I had to go up Lookout Mountain to get Seth from MDO. I got about a mile from the school and my van wouldn't go up the slick hill. I tried several different streets and my van wheels just spun trying to get up the hills. So I parked in a driveway and started walking. Thankfully a mom in a suburban picked me up and helped me get Seth, then brought me back to the van and we safely made it back down Lookout Mountain thankfully. We passed a lot of cars that were struggling to get up. The roads weren't salted at all and they were quite slick. We had friends that live in our subdivision calling me and telling me that there was no way to get in since the entrance is a large hill and it was too slick. So there were a ton of cars parking on the side of the road and people were walking to their homes. We passed a several cars that had gotten into accidents on the way home and I often felt the wheels of the van slipping and sliding. We made it to the church parking lot just a block from our subdivision. Me, Seth & Anna Claire (friend's kid that carpools with us) started walking with all of our bags. Then a nice lady gave us a ride to the subdivision entrance. We then started the big hike up the hill and to Anna Claire's house. I'm thankful my friend Paula was watching Abby so I didn't have to carry her too. That would have been quite a challenge. This sounds eventful, but there are a lot of crazy stories of buses getting stuck and accidents causing people to sleep in their cars overnight. People walking miles to get to their houses due to the icy roads. A lady even had a baby in her car in Atlanta. Stories of people bringing food and drinks to those who were stranded in their cars on the highway. It was amazing to hear how people helped each other out during that time. I'm thankful we made it home safely and by late afternoon/early evening Joe was able to drive into the back of our subdivision since some neighbors put salt all over the back entrance and the snow and ice was melted by then. We then enjoyed a couple snow days spent sledding on the street and in the back yard. 2 weeks later we had some more snow and this time it was predicted and we were home already. It was thick, heavy stuff just perfect for making a snow man. But not the best for sledding. Now it feels like Spring and I'm ready to start seeing the flowers and trees blossoming.
Here are some pictures from our fun snow days.
)
