It started on Sunday night, January 9. Tracy, of course, had to go to work. They had told him that on Friday. So as usual, the animals and I had to ride out the storm by ourselves. It snowed fairly heavily that Sunday night; so hard that I could not even see my driveway or the concrete walkways. That had never happened before. It was pretty. But then the temperature dropped and the snow turned to freezing rain - sleet - and all bets were off. So I stayed in on Monday, thinking that one day would be it. I cooked for myself, did some laundry, a few chores, and basically just went about my day. It's not unusual for me to stay home for a day. I do that quite often. (But not because I HAVE to.) I had actually been home since last Thursday. During this day, I talked to my mom and we compared notes cause they were having the same problems in Augusta... it seemed that 2/3 of the state had snow and/or ice. I took a few pictures from doorways, but I was never able to walk up to the road to get a picture of the house.
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| Where's the driveway?! |
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| View out our front door |
Then came Tuesday... and the yard and the concrete and everything was solid ice. The neighborhood continued to be eerily quiet. Very little traffic. Second day of no mail service! I couldn't even walk outside. Poor Daisy had the hardest time... she hates to be wet anyway, but everywhere she tried to walk was slippery. So I stayed in another day. OK. Cooked, did some chores, etc. Spent time on the computer. I was fine.
Wednesday comes... and the temperature never went above freezing. That means unless the sun (which thankfully came out) caused some melting, the ice was here to stay for another day. I was hopeful this day. I thought that the sun would melt that sheet of ice that was my driveway and I could go somewhere - anywhere as long as I could get out of this house for a few minutes. Even more pressing was the fact that my next-door neighbor called and she was stuck at the hospital where she works... and had been since Sunday! (I keep reminding myself that there is always someone who has it worse.) Her two teenage children were home alone and running out of food. If I went out today, would I pick them up a few things? So about 12:15 p.m., I bundled up, got Daisy in the car (She loves a ride and really needed to get out of house - probably worse than I did!), buckled her in, backed out of the garage, opened the gate, and tried to gun it up the driveway... nothing doing. Motor strained, car shimmied, and I called it a day. So I back up, turn around, and pull right back into the garage. I know Daisy thought I was crazy. What kind of one minute ride was THAT/! Even the neighbor's dog stood at our now closed gate, staring at me like "What are you DOING?"
So I'm stuck for another day of cooking for myself.... now I hate to cook to begin with, so this was definitely wearing on me. It's not easy cooking for one person either. I would cook something and then have to eat the leftovers at another meal. I was getting sick of the endless cycle. By Wednesday night, I couldn't even muster the strength to turn on the stove or oven. I had one piece of Pizza Hut pizza left and some potato chips. It was getting desperate here!
The road was much busier on Wednesday and people seemed to be driving almost the speed limit. So I figured that Thursday would be my day. I awoke this morning determined that I was going somewhere, come hell or high water. Daisy was really restless; she seemed to know instinctively that today was the day we were going for a real ride. I wanted to wait until at least Noon before trying to leave... the top of our driveway, where that sheet of ice was, is in the shade. I wanted to give the sun extra time to do its thing. I started an organizing project in my scrapbook room and soon realized that I needed some page protectors. That was all the nudge I needed. It was about 12:30... I got my coat and scarf, called Daisy and away we went.
I had to gun it and the motor complained a little, but I made it up that driveway. And at the top, it was so clear that I could walk to the mailbox and collect the mail that had finally been delivered. As I drove into Covington, though, I was actually wondering if I was making a mistake by venturing out. In the shade, the road was scary. I mean, people before me had made ruts, but it was still scary. I did make it to town, went to Big Lots, where the cashier told me they had been closed Monday and Tuesday. Now you know it's bad when a retail store closes. I decided I wanted McDonald's for lunch so I decided to go to the one at my exit. The access road was all in the sun and almost completely clear of ice. From there, I take a different route home, and that drive much less stressful.
(And I have to say those french fries never tasted better!)
Tracy came home tonight. It took him almost 3 hours from Cumming. He said Hwy 138 between Walnut Grove and Conyers was a nightmare. It is a very shaded road. We had planned to get hot wings for supper, but it just wasn't safe to go out again tonight. Bless Tracy's heart, he cooked supper, and it tasted darn good since someone else cooked it!
They say it's going up to 41 degrees tomorrow. We'll see. If it does, that will be wonderful since Tracy wants to go pick up the washer we ordered from Best Buy in Lithonia.
You know there is a reason we live in the south... and I mean a reason besides the fact that we were born here. We live in the south because we don't like snow and don't want to deal with it. And yet it finds us... and even worse, the ice comes. So Tracy is confined to Cumming and I am on house arrest in Oxford for the duration. What fun.
What happened to that "mild" winter the meteorologists predicted?!! I say spring can't get here fast enough!
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