Snowstorm 2014

Note: The following post is not related to lolita, j-fashion, etc, but I felt like I wanted to express what I experience recently with the recent southeastern snowstorm.

Last week, Alabama and surrounding areas of the southeast were struck by a very rare occurrence: more than an inch worth of snow. I am not nearly eloquent or well informed enough to fully describe why such a situation proved to be a giant disaster that ended with a large number of car accidents and cars abandoned throughout the urban and suburban areas as people abandoned their vehicles that could drive no further on the ice slick roads.

To make a rather long winded story shorter, I ended up going to work on Tuesday morning. Once the snow began, my employer as well as many others in the area announced that we could go home for the day. A flood of traffic ensued. My fiance managed to pick me up through the full streets, but soon after we left my work, the car could not handle the ice on a very slight incline. We abandoned the vehicle to regroup at a nearby McDonald’s then we walked the extra mile to take shelter at a nearby hotel. We had a restless night in the hotel lobby sleeping since they were booked out of rooms by 2 PM but were kind enough to let the masses unable to secure a room loiter in their lobby areas. The hotel was very well stocked on food, happily, we able to eat dinner and breakfast the next day.

Thank goodness for coffee

We stayed at the hotel for a while until late Wednesday afternoon when a friend let us know that the roads leading out of downtown Birmingham were finally melting. After walking back to the car, my fiance managed to drive the car out of the downtown area and much closer to our apartment. Our dwelling is very close to an ice slick hill, however, so we had to walk the last two miles to our home. The roads were also too crowded with other abandoned vehicle for us to get past the road.

Sea of abandoned cars near our home.

I was honestly terrified, constantly afraid of falling in my dress shoes that were not meant for inclement weather like ice. As the sun began to set and the temperatures dropped, I started to be convinced that we would not be able to make our way home but a kind stranger picked us up in his SUV and carries us the last bit home after darkness fell to our house. I’ve never been more enthused for a shower and warmth, and the purrs of our cat made me incredibly happy to be home.