Weekend Wind-Down #45 - Snowday Edition

This WEEKEND WIND-DOWN is coming a couple of days late due to a freak snowstorm that hit Athens this past sunday. Now, Athens has had a smattering of snow before, but nothing at all like what we experienced on March 1st. Even though it amounted to just half-a-foot of snow, it was more than enough to cripple our little town which was totally ill-equipped and unprepared for that sort of icy weather.

We had heard that it snowed in Atlanta and that the snow was headed our way. At first, I kinda scoffed at the idea of snow. Afterall, I had seen it snow here before, only to see what little snow there was melt away as soon as it hit the ground. When the snow arrived, it just kept coming and coming and coming and coming....Slowly but surely, the snow built up into impressive layers:





Despite the weather, we decided to head out to CANOPY's bithday party and open house. We weren't about to let a little snow get in our way! Missy's from PITTSBURGH afterall...she's used to snow:









The cacti at the CHASE STREET WAREHOUSES was a surreal sight:







Missy couldn't help but play around on the trapeze like every one else:







When we left Canopy, the snow was still coming down. The seriousness of the situation became all too real when we saw several cars struggling to move through the slippery snow and ice. It took us a good half-an-hour just to get out of the parking lot and when we finally did, we drove cautiously, avoiding all the downed trees and power lines, hoping that we would not have to abandon our car like so many others had on our route home.







We arrived home cold and wet only to discover that we had no electricity - which meant we had no heat and, worst of all, no internet! All we could do was watch the snow continue to fall. We stood in our back porch and listened to the sound of frozen trees cracking in half and snow-laden branches crashing to the ground. As the evening came, we lit candles and hoped that none of our own trees would come crashing down on our roof:











The next morning, Missy and I walked around our neighborhood, sharing stories with neighbors and surveying the damage caused by the snow...



Exhausted and unwilling to start, Missy's car languished on the street in front of our house:







We were sad to see one of our neighbor's cars crushed by an enormous tree. You could barely see the front of their house through the tangled mess of branches:



Fed up with freezing inside our own home and hungry for a hot nutritious meal, we managed to get my car, LORD FOCUS, out of our driveway and drove downtown. We made a bee-line for The Grit and then headed to TARGET to stock up on supplies. Because of our predicament, we decided to invest in a cell phone charger for the car, a first aid kit, and plenty of extra batteries:







We rode around town and tried to count all the different snowmen we saw...we took pictures of our favorites:








FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK-AND-A-HALF?
MISSY - I love the snow!
RAOUL - The snow...even though it caused a lot of problems.

WORST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK-AND-A-HALF?
MISSY - Layoffs at work. I miss my friends!
RAOUL - Friends at work falling victim to the economic downturn.

FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK-AND-A-HALF?
MISSY - Oreo sitting on my lap and watching Nilla play.
RAOUL - My reaction to that bumper sticker we saw...

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK-AND-A-HALF?
MISSY - "SNOW MADNESS!"
RAOUL - We saw a bumper sticker that said "Free Healthcare Begins With Breast Feeding"...my inner frat-dude blurted out "nom nom nom nom nom"

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK-AND-A-HALF?
MISSY - Lunch at the Grit...it was nice having a hot meal after not having heat.
RAOUL - Hot meal at The Grit after over 24 hours without heat.

WHAT'S ONE THING THAT DIDN'T GET DONE ON LAST WEEK'S TO DO LIST?
MISSY - Didn't take photos of my items.
RAOUL - Missed a couple of Wii Fit workouts due to no electricity.

FAVORITE "COLD FOOD"?
MISSY - Ice cream.
RAOUL - Cold left-over pizza.

PERSONAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE PAST WEEK-AND-A-HALF?
MISSY - Siouxie And The Banshees, Of Montreal, Lykke Li, M.I.A.
RAOUL - Galaxie 500, M.O.T.O., de la Soul, Flying Lizards, Names For Pebbles, Essex Green, Sixth Great Lake, Aislers Set, M.I.A., Ladies Who Lunch, Tracey Read, The Ninjas, Free Kitten. Yo La Tengo.