Devastating snowfall!

Chains were awesome!!

One inch of snow cripples North Carolina!   On the way to work this morning we were surprised by a more enthusiastic snowfall than the weatherman predicted.  Throughout the day we watched the snow accumulate and started to worry about the roads.  For some reason they over treat a no snow and under treat a real snow in this area, which leads to disastrous conditions.  It never ceases to amaze me to watch them dump tons of salt on  dusting and do nothing when we get a few inches.  We got less here at home than in other areas.  When walking to our car we noticed that the little snow (any snow here is a big deal, but where I am from this was just a dusting!) we got was packed down and turned to ice underneath; mostly because it was not treated properly.  After watching my Manager repeatedly fail to make it up the hill and out of the parking lot we decided it was a good idea to put the chains on the vehicle.  Better safe than sorry!  Throughout our journey home we realized that this was the best decision, since most of the roads were covered in snow covered ice.  There were some hills with cars in the ditch on either side.  Those of you who live in areas that receive lots of snow an ice may laugh, but many people here are injured or worse due to the road conditions during bad weather.  Throughout the WNC area schools were closed today, and throughout the day businesses have been shutting down to enable their workers to get home safely.  Even the Asheville Mall closed early!! Upon turning onto our road home we were glad to be away from those other motorists.  After pulling in the driveway we walked with Abby to the mailboxes and were slip sliding on the road in our boots.  We only slipped in the car once and that was on a steep downhill that was covered in ice.  We took the long way home to avoid any traffic and perfectly cleared roads due to the chains.

Once home Abby had a great time playing in the snow.  She likes to run with her mouth open ingesting as much of the wet white stuff as she can.  She personally sees it as her job to chase the birds away from the bird feeders and out of our yard; she takes this job seriously.  I was glad to see that the birds were taking advantage of our free buffet today in the snowy conditions.  Now sitting inside my warm home I am contemplating what to do for the evening.  If it were warmer out I would be headed out the door for a run or something.  This year I have begun to lose all motivation to venture out into the cold.  After a couple warm days I am done with the cold and ready for the more comfortable weather where one does not have to worry about silly things like frostbite and wind chill.... tonight it will be 10 degrees with a windchill of 1 degree... bring on spring!!!

Abby at work!