Snow Land Adventuuuuure!

Photo from Chicagotribune.com

First, a shout out to the brave men and women of the Chicago Fire Department, Chicago Police Department, City of Chicago Streets & Sanitation, Members of the Media and to the rest of Chicagoan who went out of their ways to help out other people. Cheers!

I left work around 3-ish. You all know about the last minute meeting I had. I was supposed to leave around 2 but that didn't happen. 3pm was the time that the blizzard was said to hit Chicago. Before I left the office, I told my coworker "Is it weird that I'm actually excited about walking out there?" I know most of you already think I’m weird but I mean... Anyways, she didn't really answer me, so I smiled at went on my way. I love the snow. It's the wind chill that's a bitch. The soft feeling when it lands on your face, the fluffiness of it and the joy it brings. Every time it snows, I feel like a child again. Like I want to play outside and throw snowballs around. It brings back memories from when I was a kid growing up. This was before my mother "deported" me to the Philippines. I remember I was studying at St. Gregory (I think they changed the school to an IS or something) and we were playing in the school yard when my African-American classmate was running towards me with snow in his hands and shoved it to my face. It got in my eyes and that's all I’m saying. Back to the present. So I walked out of the building and waited for the bus. It didn't take that long for the bus to arrive but the traffic had already started. Cars were moving like turtles in one single line. Bus wasn't packed. It got to Midway after 30-40 minutes. It usually takes half that time. The bus terminal was full of people trying to get home early. The trains, on the other hand, were almost empty. There weren’t that much people on the Orange Line heading to The Loop but the Brown line traveling to Kimball was a different story. It was packed like a can of spam. Everyone was trying to avoid the arriving blizzard. The carts were so packed; I couldn't read my book while standing up. You think that when people got off, there would be more space but no, because when they got out a new batch of passengers would come in and take their places. I was surprise that my commute time was still the same, 2 hours. CTA was prepared for the weather and didn't have any delays. At least for my commute.

After getting off the train, I decided to walk the rest of the way home. Snow was already being dumped on Chicago and the wind was blowing really hard. The snow that was on the ground was being blown up back in to the air by the strong winds. Some of it landed on my exposed face. It felt like I was in a desert but instead of sand, snow was flying everywhere. Not that I’ve been in a desert, I just saw it in the movies and that's what it looks like. I almost got pushed down by the wind a couple of times. Since the wind was coming from behind, it wasn't that hard to breathe unlike when the wind is blowing into your face. I got home safe and sound. I showered, changed my clothes and made dinner. My neighborhood didn't lose electricity so I was able to watch the news. After that I went to bed.

Feb 2 Wednesday

I woke up at 6 am to see if I could go to work. I turned on the TV to watch the news and the condition outside. The snow has already reached more than 10 inches by that time. I found out that the Brown Line had stopped services from Kimball to Western since those parts of the tracks were on ground level. There was no way I was going to work even though it was double pay; I decided to get more sleep. Before going to bed, I peeked out my window and the snow was starting to reach the lower part of my door. Woke up again around 9 am and made breakfast. Watched the news again to see that the conditions haven't really improved. It only got much worst. Snow was still coming down and piling up even more.

I knew that going outside wasn't a great idea but being the curious and stubborn SOB that I am, I got dressed and when outside anyways. Even though the newscasters kept on warns us not go outside if you don’t have to, it didn't stop me from getting my coffee. And like what Jan (@aphrodite) and @gilbz say on plurk, “ADVENTUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE" (at least I think we have the same meaning in mind), which it was. I peeking out again and the snow was already blocking the lower part of the screen door. I had to give it a good push just to open it. My first step outside, my foot sunk into the soft snow. I don’t think I was stepping on the actual concrete. When I got outside the gates, I saw that almost everything was white. Cars and trucks were buried and side streets were filled with untouched snow. You could see a few people starting to shovel their sidewalks. I proceeded to go on my way and get me some coffee at DD which was like 6 blocks away from my apartment. Every step I took was a challenge. My boots would disappear into the snow. The snow was up to my shin. It brought back memories of walking on the muddy fields in the farming lands in the province. Imagine you were on the rice fields after the rain. Every step you took felt like the mud grabbing onto your feet and not letting go. Now imagine the mud was white. And soft. And cold. That's how every step felt like.

When I got on Lawrence Ave, which is usually a busy street at anytime of the day, the street was empty save for a few cars. People were walking on the streets and not on the sidewalks because of the knee high snow. And some of them were walking with shovels resting on their shoulders. I saw this one guy who had a cap on that made him look like one of the seven dwarfs from Snow White (How appropriate). I pictured him marching on his way while singing "Hi Ho Hi Ho. Off to work we go". Me, being a child trapped in a 28 yr old body, I threw caution to the wind and proceeded to walk on the snow-filled sidewalk just for kicks. I didn't go sink all the way down. Like earlier, my boots sunk into the snow, up to my shin. There were parts they were already half shoveled like by McDonald's but the rest as still high. I got to DD and order my coffee. I stayed for a good 30 minutes before leaving. Snow was still falling and the winds still strong. There was a group of teenagers taking pictures in the snow, posing for every shot. I even over heard one of them say he hasn't seen so much snow in his entire fucking life. I caught up to a Filipino couple walking in front of me. They stopped to take a picture when the lady told her husband, "Dito. Pikturan mo ko dito. Siguraduhin mong halatang ako yan ha. Lalagay ko sa Facebook para makita nila sa atin" (Here. Take my picture here. Make sure I’m recognized. I’m going to put that on Facebook so they can see it back home). I walked pass them and smiled to myself. I took a little detour and walked on one of the side streets to go around. The scene was amazing. Horrible if you disagree with me. Imagine yourself in a maze and the wall is waist high and made of snow. That's how that particular sidewalk looked like. A few residents were already done clearing out their part and you could see the concrete. They used snow blowers, which made it easy for them. On the other side of the street, kids were playing around. They were throwing snowballs around while other kids were jumping into the thick, fluffy and cold snow.

As I made my way through, a group of young boys were talking about targeting a house. Not to rob, but to shovel the snow and charge the owners 50 bucks. With that much snow, I’ll probably charge a hundred. Not that I would do it, of course. I mean I didn't even do mine. Our landlord hired some guy to do it while they were away. Going back to my walk, I ended up by the school's playground, which is a close to my apartment. I just watched while families were having a great time playing. They were laughing like they had no worries whatsoever. After a few minutes, I decided to head towards my place. I could see my neighbors starting to shovel and trying to figure out how to get their cars free from the snow around it. I haven't seen the people who live around me like this, everybody on the streets at one time. Helping each other out. I've seen a couple of them but we didn't really say anything to one another. We would just nod and went on our own ways. Some of them I didn't even know lived on my street. Like the ladies that live at the building next to my apartment. Megan was doing the clearing while Tess watched, laughed and took pictures. I asked Megan if she needed help. She wasn't really doing any progress with it. She hand me the shovel and introduced herself and her girlfriend. I just had to ask if what she meant by girlfriend was a friend that's a girl or as a partner. Megan gave me that "You have a problem with that" look and I said I just wanted to clarify so I won’t try to hit on you. She gave me a pat on the shoulder and said I’m not her type. And I answered her "I think I know why" then smiled. She laughed at me and said they were partners. I apologized for sounding like an ass and said I got like that when it's cold. They lived in the building for about 6 months, she said. Tess went up to get coffee and offered me some, which I took of course. I finished shoveling and asked if I could borrow it for the mean time so I could help out other people and charge them. She looked at me weird as if I was going to charge her. I said I was joking and she let me borrow it and I told her I return it after.

I helped out my other neighbors and finally got to meet some of them. Once we were able to get parts cleared, some when in to get lunch. The wind was still blowing the snow around. Other people still shoving while other drivers still think they could drive through the heavy snow on the other street. I just stood there and watched. I guess you can say I was people watching and snow watching. Before heading back in myself, I did what I’ve wanted to do all day long. And that was to do a Nestea in to the snow. I dropped, back first to the snow. I went to a different spot and did a snow angel. I stayed down for a bit, got up, looked at my snow angel and smiled. Then I remembered there was a fire hydrant somewhere in the spot. I just shrugged. Like I said, the snow makes me feel like a child again. I felt my tummy rumble and went inside with a grin on my face. This blizzard is now part of Chicago's weather history and I was there.

And during the time I was typing this (9:34 pm), I haven't returned the shovel.