I only recall one other time that I've stayed inside this house for several days without going anywhere, and that was the Snowstorm of 2011. That was about 5 days of staying inside.
That storm was far less damaging to Atlanta because it started on a Sunday, so there wasn't much traffic on the roads.
I am so glad I bought plenty of groceries the other day, and strangely glad I am not working a regular office job at the moment. I haven't had to worry about a boss wanting me to come in. The roads leading out of my neighborhood are both hills, and there are shady spots where it takes time for ice to melt. When I lived in Knoxville, which gets more snow, I did my share of slipping and sliding around on the roads, and I never want to go through that mess again.
When I had only been a paralegal a year or so we got a great snowfall one night and the next morning I thought GREAT, I can't get out, and so I can stay home today. My dad called just as I had that thought and said "I don't want you to drive in this. I am going in though, so I will come by the apartment and pick you up, so you can go on in to work." I went to work in jeans and a heavy sweater and boots, convinced he'd not be able to make it, but we got there. Some of the attorneys didn't even make it in. I was answering the phones, making coffee, doing everything plus my own work, because none of the other women were there.
My dad used to like to say "I never let the weather make my decisions for me." Mom would hear that and roll her eyes. Sometimes the weather has to dictate your decisions, even in Georgia.
My uncle Don and his wife lived here in Atlanta for about 20 years after their kids were grown, and Don lived in Marietta [north of town] and worked downtown, as an administrator at Georgia Tech. He sent me this email yesterday:
We’ve been watching all the TV clips last evening and several today on national screens about the weather in Hotlanta yesterday. And results continuing today. From what we can tell, the fine politicians there have a slow learning curve.
History repeats itself.
In the early 1980’s, we had a weather problem one day about this time of the year. I was still happily working at GA Tech. We decided to send everybody home at approximately 2 PM, due to bad weather coming in. I gladly jumped into my little Honda Civic that I drove to work those days and headed home to greater Marietta. Immediately upon getting onto I-75, I found that traffic came to a roaring stop.
In spite of my usual outstanding driving that day, I got home that night at 10 PM. We didn’t have cell phones those days, somy good wife had no idea where I was all that time – and I couldn’t tell her. (10 – 2 = 8 hrs,) Fortunately, I was driving theCivic, so some of the time I could wiggle around those other big old clunkers, otherwise I’d have been on that road a muchlonger time. Needless to say, both of us were basket cases for several days after that.
A short time ago today, the good mayor of Hotlanta came on and said they’d have to find ways to fix that kind of problem.
At the rate we’re going, we likely won’t live long enough to see their needed traffic improvements for bad weather.
This was my backyard yesterday afternoon:
Enough about the Snowmageddon. Let's turn to a more interesting topic: FOOD.
I made an awesome pork roast last night. I had bought a small pork tenderloin, and I mixed up a batch of spicy marinade. Here's the recipe:
Spicy Pork Roast
1-3 lb. pork tenderloin
1 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 can pineapple chunks
1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ground ginger [or fresh ginger]
sea salt and pepper
Coat the roast with sea salt and pepper and let it sit for 30-45 minutes. Mix up the other ingredients. Pour them over the roast. I used all the pineapple juice but left about half the chunks in the can. Put it in a 250 degree oven for 5-6 hours, covered in foil. Serve with rice and a veggie. [I did asparagus]
The meat was so tender you could cut it with a spoon.
We also had some homemade applesauce I made last weekend.
I also made some spiced pumpkin bread yesterday. Michael took some to one of our neighbors down the street, an older lady who called and asked if he could come and shovel her driveway. He did so, in record time.
