I'm at home today. I decided to spend the day at home after one of the worst blizzards in the history of Des Moines hit last night. I went to work yesterday with the snow flying. When I left the office there was about 7 inches of snow on the ground. The drive home last night was slippery but not horrible. But that was not the worst of the storm. Last night we got an additional 8 inches. And then the winds kicked up.
It has been a full blown blizzard all day. That combined with the current 15 inches of snow has produced one of the most dangerous storms I've ever seen. Many of the interstates have been shut down for most of the day. The National Guard was called out to rescue people who traveled and ended up in ditches. The National Weather Service referred to the storm as "Epic". And the Governor warned last night that people shouldn't drive if they could avoid it.
So this morning I emailed my boss and told him I was taking a furlough day. I have to take seven of them anyway. And this seemed like the perfect day. Here is the view out of my front window. That rapidly disappearing block in the middle of the patio is our air-conditioner. The car was even more buried.
But not even the second floor was immune. Here is my back bedroom/studio. I walked by and noticed how dark the room was. That's when I realized that the bottom half of the window is completely buried with drifts.
I worried this morning about whether I should go in or not. My father did go in to work. He described the roads as horrible. I've been watching the conditions deteriorate all afternoon. I'm glad I stayed home. I hung out with Jeff (whose school closed for the day), shoveled a bit of snow, drank tons of hot chocolate, and read most of the day. Now I'm planning to curl up, watch Mythbusters, and drink some coffee. It was a wonderful day...for those inside.
