Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Home!, snowfall and stories from the day

- We are jokingly referring to the freakish snow that came to Atlanta yesterday as "carmageddon" (see photo below), so it was with great relief for me when my employers made the decision to close yesterday around noon.  They rock!  I was home by 1:30pm.  This is the photo I texted to my worried sister in Florida yesterday to let her know I was home. 

- This photo was posted on facebook by friend Rebecca T., who left her office in downtown Atlanta at 3pm and reported that she had traveled two miles in two hours.  She finally made it to a friend's house at 5am this morning.  There are lots of stories on the news like that - so wonderful that so many people offered their homes, rides, roadside assistance, etc.  

- If there is blame for the traffic gridlock that you have surely seen on the news in the aftermath of only 2.5 inches of snow, it's to the governor of Georgia and the mayor of Atlanta, who took a gamble and didn't close schools yesterday (thousands of children ended up sleeping at school), didn't treat the streets and didn't offer up more warnings.  Too many people took to the streets at the same time after they started getting icy.  The governor portrayed the storm as "unexpected."  Nope - not true.  I, Lynn from Good Things Happened, have known about this from TV weather reports since Monday.  Hmmm....

- But we like to focus on the positive here, so here are three good things that happened from yesterday:

- Neighbor Rhonda sweeping off the snow and making a path to our cars (not that we are going anywhere today, but you never know.)  When I thanked her for doing that, she smiled and said, "Listen to the quiet!"  And there was indeed a beautiful quietness in the snow fall.

- Retired Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones went out and rescued current first baseman Freddie Freeman on his four wheeler after reading on Twitter that Freeman was stranded on the road home (as so many were.)  That story here.  :)

- A baby girl was born on the side of I-285 in a car yesterday at 5pm, when her parents couldn't get through the gridlocked traffic to the hospital in time.  A police officer stopped to check on them, sensing something was up and said the father was calm, the mother did great and the father delivered his daughter entirely by himself.  The officer was able to contribute first aid supplies before the paramedics arrived to get them all to the hospital.  She'll have the best birthday story ever!

And I get to stay home today.  Yay!  Hope you all are having a wonderful day. 

21 comments:

Granny Annie said...


And some people think only school children get snow days. In this case they seem to be the only ones who didn't. Yikes.

Look at you, managing to still find three good things that happened. You go girl!

Louvregirl said...

Relieved for you today, Lynn. Great blog post. I loved how you segued into 3 good things! Thank you for that! :-D

Fireblossom said...

Go, Chipper!

Betty Manousos said...

truly awesome!
managing to still find 3 good things that happened. enjoy your day, lynn!

plus:loved the last photo. your home looks so pretty and comfy!

big hugs!

Chatty Crone said...

Took my husband 24 hours to get home - but he just got in!

Leonora said...

Yup, we knew your storm was coming too! The mayor and governor need to learn, "Better safe than sorry." There's no messing around with ice- it's the worst. I'm glad you made it home before all the trouble!

Sara said...

I'm so pleased you are okay. The Weather Channel has had a great time focusing on the snafu of Atlanta's officials. But, as you said, it's better focus on the positive...a day home, snow and a nice fire:~)

All we've got is some ice and rain:~( I took pictures of icicles on my bird feeder, which is very busy right now!

Jannie Funster said...

SO GLAD YOU MADE OUT OKAY!!

I could hardly believe some of the stories today.

Hard to believe in this day and age gov't could be so dumb, with all the advance warning. What gives??

I like those slippers! :)

xooxo

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Amazing about that baby being born and the father delivering it all by himself! Sometimes snow brings out the BEST in people!
Glad you are enjoying your time off! All cozy and warm....Hooray!

Riot Kitty said...

Well! I hope you had a good day off. I was just going to email you after seeing a story about the weather there, then I saw this post. Love the last pic!

LL Cool Joe said...

The only good thing about snow is it's a good excuse to stay at home in the warm and relax. I hope your enjoyed your time off!

Snaggle Tooth said...

I'm so relieved to see you weren't stuck in that traffic mess on the highway there- The news really was crazy about the stuck cars. Those poor folks- Glad hospitality shined thru too-

Those are really uplifting help n birth stories. Extra day off must be great- I could use one just for sleeping- I always end up needing to work in the storms.

Snaggle Tooth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joanne said...

Wow!! I am so impressed by that side-of-the-road-birth story! Crazy.

Lynn said...

Granny Annie -

One of the kids they interviewed on the news said it was fun at first, but then they began to all want to go home.

Thank you - I should have included that I had plenty of things to cook. I made chili and baked ziti. I don't like to think of the weight I'm gaining over this. :)

lg -

Thank you - it was fun to put together. Heading out in 10 degree weather to hack my car out of the ice in a few. I have to go to work in a bit.

FB -

I know - I got a kick out of that.

Betty -

Thank you - it is pretty, I think. And definitely comfy.

Big hugs to you!

Sandie -

I'm so sorry - that appears to be the norm for a lot of people.

Lynn said...

Leonora -

They should have closed schools. Golly - they closed them when it was too cold one day, why not for snow coming in the middle of a day?

Sara -

Yes - my sis in Monticello sent some ice pics. Crazy. She said I-10 is closed from Monticello to the Alabama border.

Jannie -

It's been crazy. And I love my Snoozies. :)

oxxoox

Naomi -

It was the officer's birthday that day, too. I loved that.

Riot Kitty -

I had a great day hunkering in yesterday - today, out the door in a few. Rats. :)

Lynn said...

Joe -

The day went by like lightning. :) But I did enjoy it.

Snaggle -

I'm caught up on my sleep now, I think.

Joanne -

I wondered about things like that - I'm glad it came out OK.

G. B. Miller said...

From what I read, officials in your state are trying to pass the buck for their screw ups but the weather forecasters are fighting back.

Cool slippers ya got.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Lynn - the snow and ice seem to have given many a rough ride to safety .. just hope not too many disasters though.

Glad you were able to get home, enjoy your fire, listen to the quiet (isn't that bliss!), see some gentle snow falling, spend a day at home .. extra plus!, glad the baby was safe .. and lots of kind people opening up their homes - neighbourliness at its best.

Cheers and keep safe this weekend .. Hilary

Lynn said...

G -

I think the governor owned up to it all yesterday. Good for him. :)

Hilary -

I do love being at home, so that was like a gift, being at home on Wednesday.

Lee said...

I don't know how I missed this post and commenting thereon...but here I am. I could blame the snow....I got trapped in it! ;)