Bywater: Snow Day

We recently had the storm of the century in Chicago. Tuesday didn't look to stormish of the centuryish, so really Scott and I just rolled our eyes and kept on keeping on. However, at around 2:00 in the afternoon I happened to glance out my window. Okay, so it had turned into a blizard outside, and I didn't have any quarters for laundry. Sad that that was the first thought out of the little door in my mind. I jumped up and grabbed the car keys and headed to the bank. I kid you not, combined with the wind Chicago is known for a mild snowstorm can turn into a deadly one. I made it to the bank and home while narrowly missing several possible accidents.
The next thought out of the little door in my mind..."Oh no, what if the trains stop and I have to go get Scott!" For as much snow and cold as these Chicagoan's get you would think they could drive in it. Well, just like Utahn's they can't. Which in turn makes the two hour drive downtown into the stuff made out of nightmares.
I must back up for a second here. We went grocery shopping on Monday night, which is a usual ritual for us, and can I tell you, the grocery store was packed full of people planning for Armageddon. Scott and I snickered and threw an extra candy bar into the cart.
Chocolate saves people.
But in all seriousness, we later learned that several gas stations were all out of fuel, several stores had bare shelves and produce was at a nill. And I thought Utah was crazy....It looked like the local caselot sale after everyone gets their tax return in Utah.
Back to Tuesday... Scott called at 3:30 p.m. "I just barely got on the train" (Relief for me) "And I had to push to get there. I felt bad for the guy that I had to push out of the way, but he'll figure his life out. Oh, and this train is supposed to leave at 4:10, but they can't stick another person on, so they are not making any stops in the city and I should be straight home." Sometimes the beauty of mass transit can be a little rough on a very winter day.
Needless to say Mr. Bywater was soaking wet when he cam through the door, but otherwise all was well and good. We went to bed, because really, what else was there to do.... :)

We woke up to this....

That is right folks, notice that the snow is taller then my large dog. She was loving life, while we began digging out. Well, sorry, let's be honest here...Scott began digging out. Just because he got a day off work didn't mean that I did. :)

I need to mention here that the city was in a state of disbelief. We laughed a lot at the hype, and news reports on this blizzard. One very sad, idiotic thing that happened was the closure of a much used highway Tuesday night during the middle of rush hour. Folks sat on this freeway so long they ran out of gas, and many ended up abandoning their cars and walking to their homes. The emergency rooms were busy with frost bite and hypothermia, and then to add to the insult when it came time to clear the roads and cars were still buried in snowbanks, the city cleared the cars, and no one knew where to find said cars. I say, good form Chicago mayor.
Anyway, I am done boring you with my stories, here are some other good photo's...

The plow finally showed up around 1:00 in the afternoon, but the snow here is so heavy and wet, and again, they are not used to dealing with this much, the plow spent most of it's time being stuck in our parking lot. There was a group of men from our building that mostly included my hubby and a neighbor who were out helping the plow shovel and get unstuck for about four hours. It was crazy.

The snow drifts made things all the more interesting. Apparently the wind was stronger at the back of our building, the snow is almost up to Mr. Bywater's hips. This makes things hugely funny for the dog, and talking care of her business. We went out to get some dinner on Wednesday night and were met with a very closed city. McDonald's, Giadorno's (famous pizza) and a little Mexican restaurant were the only things open. And there was so much snow that there was no place for the plows to put it. We drove down Glen Ellyn Main street with a huge bank of snow in the middle of the two lanes. It has all been very interesting.