We had a lot of warning about the storm that was coming today. Almost no one went into the office anticipating that it was going to be very bad. This, of course, caused a problem because the remote access equipment at work was overwhelmed and it took me over an hour just to log in so that I could work. Fortunately it is a Friday morning during the financial freeze so there wasn’t anyone waiting for me for anything so no big deal.
Dad was the first person to whom I spoke that saw the snow. He had gone over to Geneseo in the morning and got caught driving home in the snow which came up much quicker than he had been expecting. It was quite bad there very early this morning and heading towards us out here in Peekskill.
I was on the phone with people in Ithaca much of the day and about an hour after dad reported the snow in Peoria I was hearing similar reports from Ithaca. It is going to be a big one for Liesl’s very first snow storm. There have been a few flakes here and there and once there was enough snow to leave the ground a mixture of green and white for two to three hours but nothing more. This is going to be real snow and might mean a white Christmas for Liesl’s first Christmas. If there is snow here then there will be lots of snow up in Frankfort.
The Grices are traveling today from Houston to Frankfort. They left after work and school and are planning to drive straight through because there is another snow storm expected on Sunday and if they don’t make it to Frankfort before the storm hits then they will be stuck somewhere or stuck driving in a snow storm.
The snow started here around eleven thirty. At eleven there was no snow and everything was green. By eleven thirty the ground was white and it was coming down rather quickly.
We were extremely glad to learn that Chapel Hill here in Peekskill does amazing well with snow management. The instant that the snow was coming down there was a huge crew out keeping our internal roads and driveways clear. They even had our sidewalk clear within an hour or two. For the entire rest of the day after the snow started I never once looked out the window and didn’t see the guys out there keeping something cleared. Extremely impressive. The complex has several different snow removal trucks with large plows, bobcats, pickup trucks, etc. plus a crew of hand shovelers. They even have their own salt trucks so that all of our roads are salted.
We didn’t attempt any driving. I had to work all day and there was no pressing need to try to get out to a store. We do need to do some Christmas shopping but that will simply have to wait. It is really crappy that Dominica bought one of the big Christmas gifts from BJ’s Wholesale Club, paid for it and then a day later they emailed to say that they no longer carry that item and that the web site was wrong. So tons of planning had gone into that item (it was one of the really hard ones) and now we are stuck trying to find something at the last minute, with a snow storm hitting today and another on Sunday, while everything that we look for online is out of stock and won’t be available until after Christmas. Argh.
After work this evening we just relaxed around the house. Oreo had an awful day. The snow was so deep that it is up to his chin even when he holds his head up. Walking outside is so cold for him and the snow is so deep that he doesn’t know what to do. This is when it would be so nice if he knew how to use his doggy potty that we have sitting out on the back patio. After he finally does his business I have to scoop him up and carry him back to the house as quickly as possible as the snow makes him so cold that he can no longer walk.