Snow Day

Yes, today was a snow day. Yesterday I was late getting into work because my driveway wasn't plowed by my landlord when I needed to leave for work. I tried to get out, but only managed to get my van stuck. Then I did manage to get unstuck, but only to get back into my garage--not up to the street. Today the roads were a bit dicey and so I called in to say I wouldn't be coming in. I don't plan to do it again unless a snow emergency prevents me from driving, but it was a relaxing day. Here are a few pictures from the neighborhood.

The first is a tree down the street from my sister's place. All of the trees are covered in ice--which is beautiful, yes. However, I'm not so much in favour of all of the other things that are covered in ice (like power lines and grocery carts).

Next you can see the "gum balls" from the tree in my sister's front yard. I think this close-up turned out rather well. I still need to read the book for the camera--but at least I have the macro setting figured out!

I do like shots of everyday objects that have been changed--hence the third shot of an old playhouse. You can really see how the branches were all covered in sheathes of ice and icicles. The pine trees had it much worse due to their flexible branches and abundance of needles.

I did manage to stay warm. I bundled up somewhat as I do when out with carts at bigg's. Here is a shot of me. I've not been outside in the sunlight so long that my glasses turn for quite a while and I'd honestly forgotten that I owned Transitions lenses! You wouldn't believe (especially if you're Sunny Mark) how warm I can be out working in the freezing cold. The rain doesn't even bother me any more because of the new waterproof gloves(now fully tested!) my dad sent me. Thanks again Dad!!

Next you can see one of the bushes in front of my sister's place. This again is indicative of most of the bushes that I could see--covered with ice, and perhaps a bit of ice-covered snow if any had managed to accumulate prior to the freeze.

Finally below you can see what awaited me as I drove up to bigg's last night. Every horizontal surface that I could see was covered by icicles. Unfortunately many of them (actually nearly all to those that haven't been broken off) were still around today. This is causing problems for Duke Energy, who can't fix things fast enough, even with several hundred workers coming in from other Duke-powered states to help out. Right ow several thousand people are still without power. I do have more pictures, not not enough time to go through them.

~Matt

PS Check out my Picasa web albums. I just added a couple of good snow images--I might have to start a separate category for these--and a fun one of a candle. I do like how the close-up turned out on the cart corral icicles. If only I had actual free time during the day I would take more of these pictures. Unfortunately I don't have that time. Though one of these days I'm really considering leaving getting a substitute for Titanic one day so that I can have a weekend where I do not have to get up earlier than I want to once!
PPS

From Objective Bac...

PPPS

From Objective Bac...