Digging Out

Yowza, we gots a lot of freaking snow.

I dug George out about two-thirds of the way, the final third needing to wait until somebody snowblows a space for me to put the snow I'm shoveling from around the car. We survived the night without losing power, though there were a few scary flickers and the wind seemed to be blowing right through the east window. The fake fireplace I make fun of all the time was no longer quite so hilarious.

Right now the whole city's like we just woke up from a monsterous bender: What the FUCK happened last night? Who are YOU? What is this duck doing here? The bad news is there are lots of people without power, people whose cars are stuck, and people who need help. The good news is that, as usual when something's effed up, people are doing extraordinary things.

The Chicago Fire Department used snowmobiles to reach people on side streets that were impassable for ambulances or fire trucks, according to Fire Cmsr. Robert Hoff.

People who needed to be taken to hospitals were put in baskets that the snowmobiles pulled to waiting ambulances on nearby main streets, Hoff said.

I want to drag everyone who says there's no real community in a big city over to my window and make them watch what's going on right now. Two large guys with shovels are going around in the alley asking people if they need help digging their cars out. They'd make a fortune today, and given the economy who would blame them, but when a woman tried to give them money they waved her off with big smiles.

My downstairs neighbor shoveled most of my steps so I shoveled upwards instead. The snowdrifts on the third floor deck were bigger than the ones on the second, which makes sense, but holy Jesus anyway THERE ARE SNOWDRIFTS ON THE THIRD FLOOR.

Friends have been texting me all day: Are you okay? Do you need help? I have no idea how any of us would get to each other, but they're all checking in regardless. The main street's plowed, and the alley -- well, they take forever to plow the alley on a good day, so we may be waiting a bit to get the car out.

Last night was scary, and around 1 a.m. I started wondering why we live here and not, say, in California, but this morning I look around and I realize I know exactly why. Hipsters are playing frisbee in the street because it's totally empty of cars, and I live on a pretty busy avenue. A cop drove by, and waved to them.

A.

Comments

[adrastos]

Glad y'all are okay. Sounds positively Nordic there. @MayorEmanuel has been uber awesome today.

[Virgotex]

I remember the first huge blizzard we got when we lived in NY, the ex and I thought it would be cool to go outside. All fun until we got turned around and disoriented and ended up trudging into the blowing snow AWAY from our house...

[Interrobang]

Over here in Southwestern Ontario, we got...some snow. Nothing like even what I would consider a real snowstorm, and definitely not Snowpocalypse 2011. It's bloody cold with a big wind chill, so, not being insane, I'm not planning on going anywhere, but other than that, feh.

[liprap]

My grandma on Long Island met her neighbors for the first time in ages. They spent an hour or so digging her car out. She tried to pay 'em and they turned her down. There is something to the whole "paradise built in hell"...

Glad y'all are okay. I concur with Adrastos on @MayorEmanuel.

[Brenda Helverson]

The weather in Seattle is really bad. Sunny and 46, but we're expecting 37 degrees tonight!!!!

But as a transplanted Arkansan, now I understand why it is that nobody ever retires to the North.

[Robert Earle]

"Last night was scary, and around 1 a.m. I started wondering why we live here and not, say, in California..."

Ever been through a 6.7 earthquake? I have. Last night (at least in Madison) was a piece of cake, comparatively.

[MichaelF]

Hope the worst is over up there; the local forecast down here calls for sleet tomorrow...hope it doesn't affect you too much in NOLA, Adrastos.

As bad as it is driving through snow, I think sleet or freezing rain is even worse. I remember driving back to Madison and getting caught around Rockford. So THAT'S what they mean by white knuckling it. For once I was happy to see snow when it changed over around Janesville...

[aimai]

Glad you guys didn't lose power, A. We had snow the day before and then wha was supposed to be a massive ice storm yesterday. It didn't turn into the hail of toads I thought it would but there's black ice everywhere this morning and its snowing again. I agree with you about the cameraderie of the cities. In some ways I think this snow storm in Chicago is like the inverse of the heat wave a few years ago when so many people died because they stayed in. Moving out towards your neighbors, helping your neighbors, is an important part of how we survive as a people. withdrawing into your own space and hiding out is a killer.

aimai

[Maitri]

Glad you're doing ok. D just got done scraping the last of the ice off our driveway just so we can get out. Fell on my ass pretty good last night. The crap is going to refreeze again over the next few days.

[pansypoo]

and the bright side-less roaches + other weird bugs.

[FeralLiberal]

Missed work due to the weather yesterday, the first time in over 16 yrs. Took me 3 hrs to get the driveway cleared and that's only because a neighbor loaned me his large snowthrower.

There's folks in Wis refering to this as the Snow Polka Lips, hey.

[mothra]

Well, don't think the sunny SW has it easy--at least not NM. Currently 10 degrees with windchill here with in Albq. Which is colder than Chicago, I might point out. We don't have the snow, though, so at least we can still drive around like lunatics. Cold lunatics, but lunatics nonetheless. The gas company has declared that there are shortages and some people just might not get heat. WTF?