Valentine’s Day Blizzard 2007

I can finally say that I have experienced my first blizzard. On Tuesday, the snow started coming down heavy in the afternoon. By the time it was time to go home, the roads had lots of snow. Rachel had been sending me regular reports of highway closings and snowfall. So, I figured that I might not make it in to work the next day. I packed up my laptop and headed home.

There was not a tremendous amount of traffic; most people probably went home early. In retrospect, I probably should have gone home early. But, I was engrossed with my current project and did not want to stop halfway through. I was half way home before I saw the first snow plow. I tried to follow it, but with all the snow and high winds, it was as if the plow had no effect. I finally arrived safely at home three and a half hours later.

Even though Rachel had attempted to catch up with the shoveling, our driveway still had a bunch of snow on it. With the snowdrifts, the snow was probably two or three feet in places. As Pam, my mother-in-law, was essentially snowed in, we drove to her house to attempt to dig her out.

When we arrived, Rachel told me to park on the yard, so that we did not have to move vehicles while we were clearing the driveway. I got halfway up the yard, and the vehicle stopped cold. It was already in four-wheel drive, so I put it in reverse, and tried to back out. But, it was stuck. We left it there so that we could clear the drive.

We cleared the back porch area first (mostly because she could not open the back door with all the snow). We then borrowed a neighbor’s snow blower and started clearing the drive. Rachel and I only got a small portion of the driveway cleared before the snow blower stopped worker. We tried to shovel, but there was too much snow, and it was already eleven at night. Matthew, my brother-in-law, said that his boss would clear the drive the next morning. We then shifted our focus to un-sticking our vehicle. With Matt’s help, we were finally able to get it off the lawn and back onto the road.

As it was just past midnight when we were settled in back at home, Rachel and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day then. We exchanged our gifts and went right to sleep.

The snow continued through the night. With the snowdrifts (and if the snow was hard enough), we could have walked in through our front windows or walked over the back fence. We were unable to open our front door. I quickly sent an e-mail declaring a personal snow day. The snow finally slowed in the afternoon, but there was a lot on the roads. I did not relish Rachel’s drive into work that evening.

The city of Cleveland was essentially closed for the day on Wednesday. The local radio station, kept complaining about how the mayor had “cancelled Valentine’s Day.” Even though the city was closed, I was still able to get a decent amount of work done.

Today, the roads were not fully cleared, but they were a lot better than they had been on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Overall, I enjoy the experience. Rachel, on the other hand, made me promise to get a snow blower next year.

Tagline for today: “You know how it is when you’re reading a book and falling asleep, you’re reading, reading… and all of a sudden you notice your eyes are closed? I’m like that all the time.” - Steven Wright