Winter blizzard :: Brrrr...

I am sure many of you have heard of the crazy Oregon weather, but it has really hit Salem, OR hard as of late. Yesterday, there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground and then it rained, and then it froze to make lovely ice. Yay! Not really. In the evening yesterday, Matt and I were bundled on the sofa and saw a huge explosion outside, only meters from our house. The transformer right outside our house exploded! Seriously! I saw the dark sky light up and felt a huge jolt in my chest. PLUS, it sounded like a rifle being shot off next to my ear. Craziness. I called the electricity company and apparently this is happening all over Salem. The transformers cannot handle the ice and they are just spontaneously exploding. As of a minute ago, over 50,000 people are without electricity. We are still without power. Yesterday night, we lit tons of candles and hunkered down for the night. This morning, Matt took off for work and I bundled up. It is FREEZING in our house, literally!! I packed up my laptop, camera and phone and hiked to the nearest coffee house. It was like climbing Everest. A fresh new blanket of about 6 inches of snow came down early this morning and it wasn't just an easy walk in the snow. When your feet land on the ground, it first cuts through the snow, then hits a hard uneven layer of ice. No fun. Even if I wanted to drive anywhere (dangerous), I couldn't get into my frozen solid car! Here are some photo highlights.

Our snowed in home. Does it look cold? It is that cold inside!

My ice cube Volvo.

That would be my car's door handle, frozen solid. Right about now, I'm wishing I took out my umbrella previously!

My feet... buried.

Desolate streets.

"Mommy pleeeeease... let me play in the snow!" Here are some shots of Indy in doggie heaven. Oh, this was last week, before the lovely powder snow turned to crunchy ice... back when it was still fun.

Indy loved looking at her own paw prints in the snow.

Playing in the snow is tiring!

Chilly nose!

Pouncing!

Regal pup.