If you read Wednesday's post, you know that we experienced the blizzard of the century here, two weeks before winter officially starts. Here's a bit about my day...* I am currently sitting under a foot and a half of snow. Okay, maybe not
physically out under it, but Wisconsin was buried with a late autumn snowfall Tuesday night into Wednesday.
* The snow started early Tuesday morning, stopped briefly mid-morning, then started again just after noon. A 9pm newscast said the snow was falling at half an inch an hour, and we already had a few inches on the ground.
* How much snow you received seemed to depend on which side of the lakes you live. The "official" total at the airport, located on the northern edge of the city, is 14.1 inches. However, those of us on the southern side of town (below Lakes Monona and Mendota) measured 17.9 inches (this is the total
The Weather Channel has been reporting).
* The two-day total may not have been a record -- only the sixth largest storm overall -- but we did set new records for
daily snowfalls both Tuesday (7.1 inches) and Wednesday (7 inches). Oh, yay...a third consecutive year of setting new snow records. I can hardly contain my excitement. Really.
* I was rudely awakened before 6:30 this morning not by snow plows, but by inconsiderate neighbors loudly stomping their feet outside my apartment. I swear...some days I wish I could install a trap door in front of building entrances for such morons. Maybe landing in the basement every time they stomped would teach them a few manners.
* When I tried to turn the TV on to catch an update on road and weather conditions, it was to find that the cable was out. The heavy, wet snow and fallen tree branches had taken out power and cable lines throughout the city, and it was out for a few hours. Thank the gods for radio!
* Of course, losing cable for a short time is nothing compared with the hardship of losing all electricity, as many on the east side and outlying areas of the county did. Thousands are still without tonight. Thankfully, I did have power, and was able to hole up in my warm and cozy apartment.
* Virtually the entire state was closed, including schools and universities, malls, banks, buses, even grocery stores. People were encouraged not to go out unless absolutely necessary. Which meant it was mostly medical/emergency personnel, snow plow drivers and newscasters working Wednesday.
* The last storm of this magnitude to hit the area was December 1990. Local news reported 100 buses were stuck in the snow that year, which may explain why Madison Metro decided
not to run today. I was away at school then, and it was a snow day for us -- the bonus of attending a small, private college.
* One local hospital reported several snow blower incidents resulting in finger amputation, and there is always a rise in heart attacks (about 30%) this time of year, as people tend to forget that shoveling is hard exercise. You can never emphasize safety enough in this kind of weather.
* UW students took advantage of the first snow day in school history with several snow activities. Tuesday night one set of students built a giant snowball ten feet in diameter at Francis St and University Ave (it took several people to roll it and has been featured on The Weather Channel), while another group built giant snowmen...in the middle of Gilman Street. Okay, I know the snow plow drivers and police were probably not amused, but I think it's kind of funny. Hey, at least they were having fun
without being destructive!
* The student fun continued Wednesday as a large snowball fight was organized on Bascom Hill, with a few thousand students taking part (also featured in national news coverage). Others borrowed trays from the cafeteria for a bit of sledding. We did that one year my junior year in college. Borrowed trays, that is, though our dining hall was not as understanding, even if trays
were returned later. Ah, the memories...
* While the snow has stopped, temps are falling and they have now issued a wind chill warning from 3am through noon Thursday. The high is only supposed to be 7F, with wind chills as low as 20 below. I think I would have rather braved the snow Wednesday and stayed home Thursday, LOL.
Due to Wednesday's snow day, Thursday is going to be a busy day at work. If I don't get round to you today, I will definitely visit over the weekend!
LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:
(Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)
Alice Audrey * Stephanie Adkins * Journeywoman * Andi
Adelle Laudan * Storyteller * Mary Quast * Inez Kelley
Shelley Munro * Ella Drake * Paige Tyler * AJ Chase
Jennifer McKenzie * Nikki Memmott * Jeanne St. James
Cate Hart *
You can find more Thursday Thirteen participants HERE.
The dog, sleeping until that moment, jumped up and barked loudly. Fiercely. Zane turned and made one long-armed swing as he dived for the floor, sweeping Claire beneath him. A volley of tiny pops echoed into the room over their heads, and Zane heard the dull ping of bullets hitting plaster.
With nothing else to do today, I braved a lightly falling snow and ventured out to JoAnn's for some fabric to back a couple of pillows cross-stitcheded over the holiday. Amazing how much you can get done while watching a few movies. Okay, more than a few. *Grin* Yes, there will eventually be pictures. I need to haul out the sewing machine and see if I can manage not to mangle them. I think the fabric I chose for backing is rather cute, if I do say so myself. I would have liked a paw print pattern, but what they had in that did not match the project. And then I found some cute Debbie Mumm calico prints. What do you think? It's a purple background with fish bones and different cat images. 
Snowman in front of apartments on Fish Hatchery Rd.
Polar Express?
Geese on Wingra Creek near Fish Hatchery and Wingra Dr.
Wingra Creek
Reflection
At least the Wingra bike path, along Wingra Drive, was well-cleared!
The creek may have been frozen between bridges,
Two more ice fishermen
Bridge entering the UW Arboretum--note the
Road over bridge entering the Arboretum.
View of Wingra Creek over left side of the bridge.
View of the carousel building at Vilas Zoo, looking
Oh, yay...more snow! Granted, not as much as a couple weeks ago or what the east coast received over the weekend, but still unneeded. It started snowing about 9 o'clock last night and continued light and steady throughout the night. It was supposed to taper off mid-morning and be done by noon. Yeah, right. It didn't stop until around 4pm, leaving us with another four inches of the white stuff, a good inch or so above what was expected. At least this was a light, fluffy snow and not more heavy wet stuff like what we received during the blizzard earlier this month. Trees are still suffering damage caused by that wet, heavy stuff. The tops of a few tall pines out at work have snapped clean off from the weight of that heavy snow bowing their branches.
I couldn't understand the Herdmans. You would have thought the Christmas story was right out of the F.B.I. files, they got so involved in it--wanted a bloody end to Herod, worried about Mary having her baby in a barn, and called the Wise Men a bunch of dirty spies.
You are Charlie Brown's Tree. 
She was desire. She was passion. She danced like an angel. She danced like a wanton. God, he wanted her. He had never wanted anything as much as he wanted her. She made him feel again. It had been so long since his emotions had been this alive. He had to have her. No matter the cost, he had to have her...
Stamps: Noel (?)
And when all around us we see people who can't satisfy the plainest needs, I feel ashamed. Oh, not of myself, because who am I, an old nobody who never owned a mite; if I hadn't had a family to pay my way, I'd have starved or been sent to the County Home. The shame I feel is for all of us who have anything extra when other people have nothing.
