In Like a Lion...

Edited to include Edie Marie's Giveaway! Go to bottom of post for more info and check her button on my sidebar, also.

We certainly got walloped with snow this time around! This is such an ususual storm for us here in the South. The trees were in bud and daffodils had already popped up. A storm of this size has just shut down most everything here. Closed are schools, businesses, malls, etc. They are not equipped for snow storms here like up north cause snow is a rare thing here. There are downed trees, some blocking highways, and also a loss of power for almost 24,000 people in the city here. My electric flickered off and on 3 different times, but my daughter lost hers for 3 hours. She phoned me at 11:15 last night to tell me that hers was back on. We had what is called 'thunder snow' which was explained on TV...it is like a thunderstorm where we receive heavy rain, and 'thunder snow' is thunder with a heavier snowfall. And it was coming down fast!!!

The interstates are one big mess, but some melting is taking place this afternoon. But those wet roads will be 'black ice' in the morning, as we are to dip down to 17 degrees tonight! Last night there was an accident on I-85 and traffic was at a complete standstill for 7.5 hours! TV later reported it was 9 hours, but I saw it myself when they showed the first car moving and said it was the first to move in 7.5 hours. They told on TV that cars were running out of gasoline while waiting, and that they had to rescue some people and take them to shelters. The Highway Patrol was pleading with people to stay home today and off the highways. There were over 200 accidents reported, also. It was just one big mess!

All day yesterday, they were predicting 5-10 inches overnight. SO......you might know who would wait until the last minute to make a run to the supermarket! It was pouring down rain when I left home. The highways were almost deserted, as the wet stuff had started to come down while I was still out running around. I made another run to the petstore, in addition to the supermarket, and then I had to run by my daughter's home as she had picked up the cats' insulin needles and some other things for me at Wal-M*rt. I got home safely, but the grassy areas were already covered with snow when I drove down my street. Before I got my car entirely unloaded, the street was covered with a layer of that beautiful white stuff.

Below, you will see that the highway was practically deserted on the way into the city...all the smart people had already been out and had their storm shopping all done.

Below is a really big intersection...very few motorists were out at this time.

Below, you will see that my little feral kitty came through the snow to my front door. I will put food out there for her tonight. I had moved the igloo doghouse closer to my back door yesterday for her, so I wouldn't have to shovel a path for her from it to the food dishes, but she never even slept in it last night! There were footprints in the back, also, so I know she had come around to the back to eat, plus the canned food dish was empty this morning. She's got me wondering where she could have found a better place to sleep than in that igloo with those nice warm, microwavable heat disks under the blankets for her...they stay warm for 16 hours.

This is my crepe myrtle tree outside my kitchen window...it was hanging low from the weight of the snow.

This is a scene looking up the street....

And this is the scene looking down the street...you can see other crepe myrtle trees drooping from the snow. We are just not accustomed to this much snow!

And this is my poor cleyera bush, all bent over from the heavy snow...

Below is my office window, so you can see that the office cats have had a great view of the snow...and they were enjoying batting the windows last night when the snow was falling. I usually keep the blinds pulled up a ways for them.

And this is what I found in the kitchen window when I got back inside this morning...this is Precious looking out the window. She was looking at me through the blinds with her snappy little eyes until I snapped the picture! Notice Toby's big fluffy tail in the foreground.

Right now, our street is bare, but wet. We are to be 74 degrees on Saturday! I am SO ready for Spring now!!!

Be sure to check out my sidebar for Edie's Giveaway at Edie Marie's Attic coming up on March 9th! She is giving away some beautiful items for her one-year anniversary in Blogland! Hop on over and check it out! You will just love her blog! She's a romanticist...I tell you, you will absolutely love her!!!

Our Big Snow Day

We woke up to some 'white stuff' this morning! All day yesterday, the media was all excited about the big impending snow storm headed our way. They had predicted 2-4 inches. Well, this is what we got! LOL They were on the air at 4:30am this morning with updates! They said the brine trucks headed out at dusk last evening to spread salt water on the highways to help prevent them from freezing. There were 68 accidents in our county alone this morning! As you can see, not everyone headed out to work early.




It was a rather cold day here in 'Dixie,' though. And a cold night again tonight. This will probably be the extent of our winter here. We don't get snow all that often, but when the word 'snow' is even mentioned, people get all excited and head out to the grocery stores to stock up. They stated on TV that sleds were a big seller yesterday, too. Unfortunately, schools in our area were not closed today. I do wish we had gotten more snow for the kids' sake, as kids here don't get snow to play in all that often. Anyhow, this is the extent of our accumulation where I live. They are predicting areas of 'black ice' for the morning commute again tomorrow.

Snow in Dixie!

The "Sunny South" woke to a blanket of white yesterday morning! What a beautiful sight it was! On Wednesday, there were TV bulletins all afternoon of the forthcoming storm, so that created a panic, so to speak, in this area. At just the mention of the word snow, people rush to the supermarkets to stock up (heaven forbid we get snowed in!) on milk, bread, beer, toilet tissue and dog food! Some people had two carts full! Our first year (1984) in South Carolina, we experienced our first ice storm in the South. Those five items were the ones mentioned on the nightly news that people rushed out to purchase. On the news broadcast, bread racks were shown completely depleted and also the empty milk coolers. At that time, we had a good chuckle over it all.

Being former Pennsylvanians, we grew up being always prepared, but back then we never ever really got what you would call "snowed in." I can recall one time when our children were growing up when we received 27 inches of snow overnight, and, believe it or not, the schools were open at their regular times. Roads were all cleared, and people actually went to work that day. Here in the South, everything comes to a complete standstill...even the mall closes! Only medical and emergency workers report to work at their usual times, sometimes picked up by 4x4 vehicles.

Well, I was one of those nervous people out shopping for pet food, milk, bread, and some snacks to have on hand...just in case our area did get iced in. I was wheeling my "buggy" (shopping cart) out of the supermarket and heard someone holler "Hey!" I turned around to see a beautiful, familiar face....that of my daughter! She was also out getting last-minute milk, bread and goodies! We laughed together and hugged and chatted for about 10 minutes in the chilly air. Had we not run into each other, I doubt if we would have ever told each other that we were out there among the crowds of people buying last-minute groceries. Remember, we were the ones who chuckled during that first ice storm we experienced in ‘84, so we would never admit to anyone that we were among those out shopping "before the storm."

I arrived home just around 9pm, and it was snowing by then. It was really so pretty! I kept checking throughout the night, and the ground was white! It was a beautiful sight for everyone to wake up to in the morning. I heard the cats getting up on the window sills, rattling the blinds, all during the night. There is a halogen streetlight right across from my home, so they were watching the snow fall like a bunch of little children! They were just so tired all day yesterday, so tired from being up all night, that every one of them took an all-afternoon cat nap. Some chose my bed, and notice that they know they are to lay on their own "cat" towels, even though the bed is covered with a protective "cat" sheet. Toby stretched right out for his nap! He thinks he is human! What a life....eat and sleep!

Well, the big storm didn’t turn out as bad as they had predicted for our area, but there are some 2-hour delays this morning as some of the secondary roads froze over during the night. We were very fortunate that we didn't experience any power outages as we had in previous years. Of course, our street is all dry. So life is back to normal here. Today, the forecast is 57 degrees! Guess that is (or hopefully, was) our winter!