Snow!

Overnight we received what looked to be around 8 inches of snow.
I woke up with Lisa at 5:30 and went out to clear off and warm up the car for her.

As I walked toward the street to check its condition, I realized that I was going to have to shovel the driveway for the first time in a long time. In the past, when we have had 3 or 4 inches of snow, we simply just drive over it down the driveway and let it melt on its own in due time. While other people in the neighborhood spend hours shoveling and salting their driveways so they are totally clear, we let our sit as a testament to winter weather and the fact that we don't care if our driveway looks postcard perfect.

Thankfully, the snow was dry and fluffy and not all packed and wet. So while the shoveling was work, it wasn't the significant effort it could have been under other conditions. In fact, after clearing off the end of the driveway and the street entrance, I basically just swept the majority of the snow of the remainder of the driveway in a few minutes. It was a good workout and a brisk start to the morning, with temps in the 20s and wind chills in the single digits.

I began my commute at around 7:15 and our street and the service road were still covered but had been plowed a few times throughout the morning, so it wasn't too terrible. Once I got onto 70, it cleared up a lot. While it wasn't absolutely clear, you could see the lane markings and we were travelling at around 45mph consistently without feeling in danger. At around the Rock Road, however, the conditions worsened and you could no longer see the lanes. This deteriorated even further at the Airport, where there were still several inches of snow on the roadway. Natural Bridge and the street our company is on were not plowed, as usual. The city of Berkely will probably get to plowing these by 5pm tonight if we are lucky. All in all it was a relatively painless commute and I was able to be at work by 8.

I like the fact that we finally got a good snow and enjoy the way it makes everything look.
The fact that most of the main roads will probably be absolutely clear by this afternoon makes it even more enjoyable.