Snow Day

Historically, we get snow here in the desert about every three years. It snowed in the hills yesterday and the day before, but today it has penetrated to the floor of the valley and we're in about three inches right now as I'm waiting to go to lunch. Here's what it looks like outside the office:

For those of you who live in snowy climates (like, say, Tennessee or Wisconsin) this looks like nothing. But bear in mind that this is the desert. Those are Joshua Trees you see in the background with snow on them. This sort of thing is cause for panic. Roads are already shut down and we may have schools closed because of this, too.

LATER: At about 1:00, we realized that a lot of our employees live in outlying areas and needed to get home before chains would be necessary. They beat us to it -- when we got back to the office, it was deserted. The Wife's car wouldn't start, so I went to her work, and we're home now. I got out and shoveled the sidewalk and driveway, but by the time it was done, it didn't seem like I'd done a lot of good. Felt like Tennessee that way. We need to get some rock salt.