So…when do they call it a blizzard?

Would you believe me if I told you that we woke up to 18 inches of snow this morning and it’s continuing to fall at a rate of 2 inches an hour?  Well, that is the honest truth…we are blanketed in snow, and the news just said that the last time Charlottesville had anything close to this was in December was in 1969.  We’re doing well, Drew walked to the hospital this morning which he said took about 30 minutes and was really beautiful.  We are fortunate to live close enough for him to walk as most employees are being forced to stay at the hospital and Charlottesville has called up the National Guard to pick up those that are scheduled to work and unable to come in.  Drew is not on the schedule again until Wednesday, but he said that he may be forced to come back over the next couple of days to fill in on other floors of the hospital.  We’re just happy that he can come home and doesn’t have to stay at the hospital tonight!

Here at the house, Asher and I are cozy and wide eyed watching all of the snow come down.  It’s a virtual white-out outside of our window, and the only inconvenience that we’re feeling is on the part of our pets.  Mable (our cat) can’t go outside as the snow is over her head and Grace is up to her shoulders so…we’re feeling that one out.  The weather folks are saying that it will continue to snow until about 4pm today and then it will finally stop.  Most of the major interstates have portions of the road shut down with reports of abandoned cars all over the road and people getting rescued after spending many hours in their car.

My brother Drew and his wife Meg and their son Jack left Virginia yesterday morning after a really lovely Christmas visit in an effort to get ahead of the storm.  They made it almost to Asheville before getting stopped on the highway for three + hours and eventually getting turned away and having to sleep in a hotel.  They left Virginia at 10am and finally made it to the hotel around 11:30pm.  They were all troopers, it’s hard to imagine a 12 hour day with a dog, a 2 year old and a snow storm in a minivan, but thankfully they made it to a safe dry place and are now trying to make their way home again.

My first thought this morning was, thank goodness for this dry, warm house.  Shelter.

Last night when we were still under the 1 foot mark

Sinking up to my knee in the snow! This is the "step" on our front porch

Graces braves the snow this morning

Our maple tree is getting shorter and shorter as the day progresses