Well, those watching the news may have noticed that the fluffy white snow I described in my post last Thursday turned out to be something far more sinister. Firstly, although it looked lovely and fluffy from the window, stepping outside at the end of the work day (sans coat and gloves, of course) one realized that it was actually very heavy, and very wet. Luckily for me, I happened to have my snow brush in the trunk, since my car was completely covered. It took about an hour and a half to get home, where it wasn't snowing at all. Funny how it can be a snow storm on one side of the city and the sun is shining on the other side!
Anyway, spent Thursday evening with Joe and family. The snow was just starting up in Hamburg when I went home. Finished up my paperwork in anticipation of my appointment with Dr. Bone on Friday. Went to bed. Woke up around midnight to Joe calling, letting me know their power was out and I might need to give him a wake-up call the next morning. Stayed up watching the news, noticing my power dimming periodically but not quite shutting off. The swirling snow was so pretty, so bright outside with the lights reflecting off it, although it was kinda strange watching a snowstorm with lightning and thunder. Set the alarm on my cell phone and plugged in my regular phone, just in case. Prayed that the doctor's appointment wouldn't be cancelled. Lost power at 12:47am.
Friday morning woke up in the dark. Called to find out about the appointment: cancelled. Everything closed. Called work: no answer. Called Joe. Went back to bed. Re-awoke to Joe calling to see if I wanted to come over. He'd spent the whole morning clearing trees and branches from their street. Power lines were down. He decided to walk over. My power came back on about 5 minutes before he got here. It blinked out a few more times over the weekend, but not when I was home. Put the news on to find out how bad it was: 2 feet of snow in some places, states of emergency, driving bans, power out everywhere, traffic stuck on the Thruway for 12 hours, 3 deaths. Snow so heavy it tipped back planes at the airport.
We walked from my apartment back to Joe's parents' (in our boots, coats, and mittens). A few inches of snow on the ground (we only got 6 at the very most), already melting. Tree branches everywhere, most places without power. Spent the day with Joe's family, playing board games. In the evening his dad built a big fire and we all hung out around it, listening to the Sabres game on the radio. Joe and I kept our hopes up that the following day's home game would not be cancelled, since we had tickets!
Saturday, Joe's parents still didn't have power. His dad went to work at the hardware store, which also didn't have power, so he spent the day leading customers around the store to find what they needed. Joe checked the Sabres website when he came over, to find a big banner with the news: GAME ON! Yay! :-) We spent part of the afternoon back at his parents' place, playing board games again, then headed downtown early. Wandered into the church that sits next to the lot where we always park. They were having exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, so we stayed a few minutes. Could have (and should have) gone to confession too, but didn't. :-P Had pizza for dinner on Chippewa, then rode Metro Rail down to the arena.
Joe got me a hat with the golden slug (Sabres' new logo) on it, and told me now I'm a true fan because I have merchandise. ;-) I got him a flag for his car. These were both things we wanted during the playoffs last season, but never got around to getting. Sell-out crowd and most people showed up, in spite of the snow and everything else. ("Toughest fans in the NHL" -- you can't keep Buffalonians away from their hockey!) We had seats way up in the 300's, between two Rangers fans (not sure how that happened). Yelled and cheered. Had ice cream cones (yes, we always get ice cream when we watch hockey; the refrigeration keeping the ice cold helps keep it from melting ;-)). Rangers scored first (twice), but Sabres came back and crushed them 7-4! Great game! :-D
Turned out that Chris Drury got a hat trick! His first one! This was the first time I'd been at a game where someone got a hat trick (if anyone doesn't know, that's when a player scores 3 goals in one game). (Figures it happens the day I get a hat, right? :-)) We were too far up to throw ours (a relief for me, since I'd only owned mine for a couple hours!)... but NOBODY threw any. Not one hat on the ice! What? Even I, a baby hockey fan, know that's what you're supposed to do when there's a hat trick. I guess it's gotten to the point where everybody feels their hats are too expensive to just throw away... even so... it is the principle of things. ;-) Joe resolved that we should go all the way down at the end of the game, and he would throw his hat on the ice when they announced Drury as one of the "three stars" of the game. So that's exactly what we did. :-) So Joe's hat was the only one that actually touched the ice. (And then some random fan asked the guy cleaning up the ice to give him the hat, so now Joe's former hat belongs to some nasty-looking weirdo. That was weird.) Of course, now Joe no longer had a hat, so we had to stop back in the gift shop on the way out so I could replace it for him. :-) Now we have matching ones, except his has the vintage logo and mine has the slug. And once we got back to the car, we got the flag in place on the window, waving for all the world to see. Yay hockey. :-)
Joe was a little bit bummed about his old hat, figuring Drury hadn't even seen it when he tossed it out, and now it is in the possession of some creep. We were listening to the post-game show on the radio, and a caller incredulously asked about the lack of hats thrown. "Well, I saw one that got thrown that didn't make it to the ice," the host said, "and after the game, there were one or two that hit the ice when they announced Drury as the first star." So there you have it: Joe's hat was mentioned on the radio. :-D
And now the Sabres are 5-0 and well on their way to the undefeated season Joe is certain they will have. ;-)
Yeah... big snow storm, and my blog is mostly about hockey. Go figure. I guess Joe's been a bad influence on me. ;-)
Anyway, Sunday we headed back to Joe's, watched the Bills lose, played the game of Life, watched a movie, and kept track of students returning to the dorm. Now it is Monday. Joe's back to teaching, but for the rest of the area: about 200,000 are still without power (I'm assuming Joe's parents are still in that number, but not sure), most schools are closed again. Power crews from other states are being bussed in to help with the cleanup. The whole area has been declared a federal emergency. Amherst still has a driving ban in effect, Amherst and Cheektowaga have cancelled school for the entire week, UB is closed, and as a result, the place where I work has also decided to remain closed for today.
So, I am just sitting at home today, in my pajamas, with my electricity, enjoying the sunshine streaming in through my window, petting my sweet kitty cat, and counting my blessings. :-)
And for the curious, barring any more freak lake effect snow storms, my appointment with Dr. Bone has been rescheduled for this Friday.