Big Snow

One week ago was the big snow. One of the biggest storms I remember in a long long time. It may not rise to the level of those "Where were you when..." moments for most people, but I'll remember where I was during the storm of January 5, 2009.

I was stranded. A couple of times. And rescued.

My battery died in the grocery store parking lot. After scanning my phone list thinking about who I could call for help on a night when the roads were extremely hazardous and the conditions very harsh, I opted to ask a stranger who happened by to give me a jump. Gratefully, he did. I waited a few minutes, then put my car in gear to back out. It died again. Totally, stone cold dead. Thought I'd have to wait for the man to come back out from grocery shopping to ask him for a repeat. But I was getting very cold, so I asked another guy. This time I sat and idled for some time before attempting to move, and then drove around the parking lot for a while before daring to venture out on the roads, intending to go straight to Walmart for a new battery. Heat was out of the question, even though I was FREEZING. And I only occasionally used the wipers, even though the snow was still falling very heavily. I finally went out on 800 North, revving my engine at every slight pause. About two blocks down the road my visibility was zero because the windshield was all fogged up on the inside and totally covered with snow on the outside. I had no choice. I slowly switched on the defrost, and my car immediately died. I got off the road, but not comfortably. Started calling for tow trucks. Three hour wait times. Freezing. Dark. Worried every time a car(or especially a snow plow) passed. Phone battery almost dead...... Blah blah blah. You get the pathetic picture.

Let's get to the good part.

All of that vulnerability was very memorable, but the part I'll never forget is when Jon pulled up behind me and honked. It was a huge emotional sigh of relief. I got out and walked back to his car, and sat down on a wonderfully warm seat. Thank you Jon. For coming out in the storm to rescue your mama, and for being the kind of young man who would think to turn on the seat warmer before you got there.

For reference, here's a picture of the snow on my deck, several days later. A lot has melted, but you get the basic idea of how much snow fell in a few hours time.