Snow Day

We were warned yesterday that a snow storm ("winter advisory") was on its way and the warnings were quite exciting, if unbelievable. We were promised a "100% chance" of snowfall starting at midnight and ending the next day (today) around noon. So we trotted off to the grocery store, along with everyone else in town, to stock up on essentials (a big bottle of wine being one of the most important) and came home and waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing had started by the time we went to bed and we began to think that once again, the weather reports had been needlessly alarmist. BUT this morning we awoke to an amazingly thick and steady snowfall which, according to a neighbor's reports, began around 5 am. It didn't slow until around 3 this afternoon and it hasn't completely stopped yet. Simon shoveled the drive clear around 11 this morning and then had to clear it again around 2. So far, no sign of snow ploughs in the streets. Here is Frederick on a walk with Simon, enjoying the wintery landscape.

Simon said it took about 3 minutes for all traces of footprints in the snow to be erased by the new falling snow.

Here he is at Mott Community College, fighting the wind.

Frederick is glad to be in the backyard where the weather isn't quite so intense--but the yard toys are impossible to find.

And meanwhile Thomas, who wouldn't dream of going outside in weather like this, spends his extra holiday break day creating a Pokemon zoo with Bryce. Unbeknownst to them, I could hear them setting it up while I was inside our closet putting clothes away. (Our closet wall is on the otherside of Thomas's bedroom wall and, anyway, Thomas isn't known for being soft spoken.) Here is what I heard:

Thomas: You are in charge of the pokemon day care.

Bryce: I don't want to. The babies are naughty.

Thomas: Well, it doesn't matter because it will shut down soon because not enough parent are making their payments.

Grim times, indeed.