29 January 2014

#snowinAlabama

WHAT A DAY, right?! All you have to do is go to Facebook, al.com, or any news outlet and you can see the stranded motorists, the kids still at school, the 2+ inches of snow when there was supposed to be a dusting at most, and on a happy note - the kids (& kids at heart) playing in the snow. WE GOT SNOW! Granted, the non-Southerners are laughing at us. Why are they so mean?! If we wanted to play that game, we would laugh at them when they get tornadoes. But we won't play that game. There are many articles already on why the South fell apart and why non-Southerners are being so mean (and/or ignorant) so no need to go there. 

You know all those national life-changing events that when someone says "Where were you?" and you have your story ready? January 28, 2014 will be like that for Alabamians and Georgians from what I can see. This is my day.

Normal day at work. New task, excited to get started. Mid-morning a couple of co-workers called me to see the snow. I literally did not see anything. About an hour later I went back to the window and there was a thin layer over the cars; not much on the road. I logged on to Facebook to see what James Spann had to say. There really wasn't a good radar reading for the snow because we didn't expect it at all. All of a sudden, it is 11:00 and a work email comes out saying we can have liberal leave (which means we still have to use leave- we just don't have to have it approved) and the schools are closing. Most planned to close 2 hours early, NOT before lunch. I shut down my computer about 11:30 and walked to my car in the slush. It was already a winter wonderland. I brushed snow off my windows and psyched myself up for the drive. Once on the main drag, I mostly sat in line. After moving a buildings length in just an hour, I had talked to E who was still in his office, and decided to go back and sit with him. (Also realizing that I should beg him to drive me to my house - I was listening to the radio and already there were reports of traffic stalled because of wrecks.) There were people locking up their buildings because everyone was gone but E suggested waiting because we could see that the traffic was NOT moving. Sure enough, I had been behind a friend in line and we were texting each other the rest of the day. She was in line for over 2 hours. There was so much snow cars were not making it up hills, no matter how high or steep. E and I finally left about 2:30 and started out the back gate. It was clear until we were out the gate and we could see that the traffic waiting to get through the red light and over the overpass was stalled. Again, literally not moving. We turned around (carefully, oh so carefully) and went to the other gate. This was a 5-10 mile trek but proved best as we were able to keep moving the whole time and there was little traffic. I was in full panic mode and frankly spent most of my time on the phone. E was doing GREAT and while I knew that in my mind, I wanted to say something "helpful" every time I looked out the front window. I was keeping my mom and some friends updated on our progress. E's parents called while we were on the road - they were stuck too, but in the Gadsden area. Nearly everyone I knew was stuck. The radio was reporting schools who had released the kids - but couldn't run the buses to get them home. How surreal it was to be driving through a winter wonderland! There were cars on the side of the roads. Once away from work, we stayed on a main thoroughfare. Not that it was salted or plowed, but the traffic had kept it mostly drive-able. At one point, a city police car nearly hit us. Not on purpose, of course, but it must have hit ice because it was sliding right towards E's door. E saw this of course and moved us as far away as we could go. Thankfully the driver was able to regain control and we avoided a collision. Also while I was on the phone, I was mapping out our route. It was amazing to see no lines on the road and for that matter, you could not see where the road ended! The best option was to follow the tracks of those who went before you. We thought we were home-free and wouldn't have to brave any hills. Totally forgot about one, but thankfully made it with no problems. I will say, if I had been driving, I honestly don't know how/if I would have made it home. It.Was.Rough. We made it to my house about 3:30. Just an hour for what is normally a 20-25 minute ride. It's less than 15 miles.

Once safely in my house, I was ready to get back out... This time to enjoy the snow! It stopped falling sometime during our drive or right when we got home. Here are some fun pictures. 

Snow Angel



It's a winter wonderland!

My backyard

4 inches. 


I did not watch the Grammy's (or whatever awards show it was) the other night, but I heard about it. It was very depressing. Anyway, as soon as I saw all the posts of people helping other people on Tuesday, my spirits were lifted. Hollywood does NOT own us and humanity is alive and well. God's love was shown, of this I am CERTAIN!

Here are some of my favorite stories:

Doctor walks 6 miles to perform life-saving brain surgery

Lady drives 100+ people home

Sharing the essentials

Chick-Fil-A feeds stranded motorists

And so many more. The kids who were stranded at schools were all with their teachers and principals. People who were walking were often picked up, or at least had an offering of free coffee on a porch. 

There is much work to be done for the Kingdom, and God just reminded the South that He is in charge.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by!