Life-Sized Slushy

The signs were all there. We just chose to ignore them. Yes, we heard the rumors this past weekend that snow may be on its way. I think when we got through Tuesday without a flake, we falsely assumed we were in the clear. Then, this morning, we wake up and they no long say Snow Advisory but a Winter Storm Warning... with a chance of 5-8 inches of snow.

In retrospect, the wise move would have been to take the golf clubs out of the car and find the snow brush, shovel and boots to put in. But no one accused us of being smart. Today anyway.

So we watched the snow pile up outside our windows at work. Heard reports of slippery roads. Observed the lights blinking several times through the course of the day as if they were on the brink of a power outage. Then decided to hit the road early.

We found out immediately that early -- 1:30 p.m. -- was not early enough.

Nothing was plowed for the first 30 miles of the trip, where my dear driver couldn't really safely accelerate beyond 30 mph in most places. Jim had to maneuver through a life-sized Slushy. And it was not a treat. It took an extra 20 minutes to get home.

I snapped some pictures quick before Carter got home off the bus and we had to head into town to the dentist. Thankfully, by then all the main roads were just wet. Side roads and parking lots were still a slushy mess. For those of you not in the path of this not-so-surprising Surprise Storm, this is what you're missing...

I think my days with Mr. Deck Chair are over for 2011. Sad.

The heavy, wet snow bent branches big time. We didn't lose any branches but, in many cases, trees fell on power lines and in nearby Stevens Point, for example, I guess thousands lost power. We count ourselves lucky!

Even the teeny tiny branches had a heavy load to bear.

Sorry, hummingbirds. You're on your own today. Unless you like Slushies...

Snow cone, anyone?

No sun was getting through to this solar panel! B-r-r-r! I get cold just looking at this!

The Batting Cage next door should probably close for the season, too.

Jim nominated himself chief groundskeeper and removed that snow before starting up the snowblower -- which started on the first try, by the way. Always a good time.

I'm pretty sure when he got done, he just came inside to warm up. Though he could have just chilled on the back deck. You'd join him, wouldn't you?