Well, that just sucked.

The Korean War Memorial

The walk to work. 

The aftermath.

Last week, we were told that a huge snowstorm was blowing in and that we were due to have between 6 and 15 inches of snow.  The whole idea seemed a little preposterous, as we usually only get one or two inches of snow at a time and that usually melts right away.  However, all the forecasters were saying it and it concerned me because we have to go to work no matter what at this time of the year.  I woke up at 3 am Wednesday morning, looked out the window and saw no snow.  When I woke up two hours later, I found that five inches of snow had thudded down from the sky and more was coming.  I got ready for work and headed out the door at 6 am.  The drive wasn't too bad, a little slippery and with little visibility at times, but overall I made it to work.

During the day, we received a total of about 14 inches of snow. It was beautiful, but made for a horrible drive home.  I actually had to stop and ask a friend to come and get me because my car couldn't get any traction.  It was embarrassing, but I have very good friends.

The Capitol Campus 

The World War II memorial

As if no car and 14 inches of snow on the ground weren't bad enough, nature turned the screws by producing .5 inches of freezing rain Thursday morning.  The roads iced over and my friend who picked me up drove me to work late in the morning after things had opened up a bit.  But, here's the problem when you have a massive amount of snow and freezing rain and live in a city that really appreciates its trees:  the branches get weighed down and break.  And break they did.  I walked out of my development a couple of miles to meet my ride.  It was like walking through gun fire.  The branches cracked and crashed to the earth, and, unfortunately, taking many power lines down with them.  Our ride to work consisted of avoiding downed branches, trees, and power lines.  Power went out at my house on Thursday and didn't return for six days.  Yes, six days.  I slept one night at work, mostly to ensure that I would be there the next day and the remaining nights sleeping in my sleeping bag with three cats permanently attached to me.  It got down to 40 degrees inside, but I actually kind of enjoyed curling up with the cats and watching tv shows on my laptop.  Now, the only thing left to do is clean up.

The front yard 

I may just have to replace the fence this time.  

More fence damage 

More damage.  Sigh.