A Big Snow Day in Chicago

February 9, 2018

Woke up to a good amount of snow on the ground, and even more falling from the sky. I peeked out the window at around 5:30 AM and saw a guy using a snowblower, clearing the Paley’s driveway across the street. The snowflakes falling were small in size, slightly bigger than glitter. But it was all coming down at a pretty solid pace.

A little after 8AM, I decided to venture out to clear some snow. Liz and I were both working from home today, which – I just have to say is really awesome. That we are both able to do our jobs remotely is a serious luxury. And it was nice to be able to stay inside, on a day like today.

It was hard to tell just how much snow was on the ground. But using the car as a gauge, I got a sense pretty quickly.

A little tough to tell where the sidewalk ends.

Looking down at the front steps, disappearing into the snow.

Our birdbath remains a reliable snow measuring device (though I should note that some part of this snow existed, prior to the snow we got overnight).

The front of the car…

… and the back.

Fast forward to the end of the day. I was tempted to shovel again during lunch, but decided to just wait and go back out again at the end of the day.

Around noon, I peeked outside again and saw a crew of people working. The same guy was back over at the Paley’s driveway, using a snowblower again to clear away the snow that had fallen (since he cleared it earlier).

Peering out at our backyard, it’s kind of crazy. The snow was pretty steady all day long. And it just kept on coming down.

Back in the front, it’s almost like I didn’t do anything at all.

The car is a little more…. buried.

I was wondering if all the snowfall was just getting hyped up on the news. While it was a decent amount of snow, I’m sure I could have trudged my way in to work. I think the trains were all mostly fine, and I’m sure the CTA was just fine. But the idea of spending extra time to go out and back seemed exhausting.

I want to say today rivals what we experienced in 2015. And it sounds like we’ve got a bit more snow coming our way, over the next day or two.