mojosmom

Last night was weird. It was blowing really, really hard, and then there was thunder and lightning! It blew so hard that I thought we'd luck out and not have our cars buried. Ha. My car's the one in the middle:



I went out around 9:00 and started to dig out the rear end of the car, and was joined by a couple of kids who had been digging tunnels in the snow. They were very excited because the schools were closed, an event that the older one, who is 11, pointed out had never happened before in their lifetime. (The last time was twelve years ago.) They didn't last too long, but it was sweet of them to help. A couple of hours later, after it had snowed some more and then stopped, I decided to go and tackle some more of the snow. This time, I was joined by a young woman who was walking down the alley with her shovel slung over her shoulder. She had intended to dig out her car, but found she had no place to throw the snow without blocking someone else. So she left it, and plans to take the bus to work. (She'll have an extra day, though, because she's a teacher and CPS just announced they'll be closed tomorrow, too.) Between the two of us, we basically finished the job, and I invited her in to warm up and have a cup of tea. I paid it forward later this afternoon when I went out to finish the last bit and make sure my car would move. The neighbor kid was digging out her family car, so I helped her out with that.

I still may not get to work tomorrow, because, although we dug out the car and it does move, the alleyway still has a serious amount of snow and it's unlikely I could get from my spot to the street. Public transportation is an option, though a difficult one. It's two buses to the train, and then a bus from the train to my office, and that bus wasn't running today and they're not sure if it will be tomorrow. Not to mention that the temps are supposed to be in the single digits. So I may just call in.

Actually, had I followed my instinct and not parked behind my building but in the diagonal spaces on 53rd about a block away, I would have been okay. But who knew?

I must say that people pretty quickly got most of the sidewalks cleared, and I saw a lot of people helping others dig out. This morning, I wandered over to the park that's down the street. The dark bit to the left of the sign is the only bit of a park bench not buried in snow!



They're calling this the "Groundhog Blizzard".