Tuesday, January 28th
The Chastain Farms
Winterboro, AL

Today is our first day without a working bathroom, due to the full septic tank. We take walks over to Jimmy’s house to use the bathroom, and enjoy the opportunity to see his lair.

There was a little snow in the forecast. We all knew it. But we didn’t expect much – I didn’t expect it to stick, even if enough fell to accumulate. So when a dusting began in the mid morning, we quickly took a few photos to document the transient flurry before evidence was gone.

But the snow continued throughout the morning.

And then it intensified.

And in Alabama, the Snow Day began.

By the time school got out, the roads were icy.

There were no salt trucks, and no one really knows how to drive on snow or ice here.

Across the region, highways became parking lots.

Children had to spend the night at school because the buses could not run, and their parents were unable to pick them up – because the roads were not passable, or, in some cases, because the parents were, themselves, trapped – at their workplaces, where many spent the night.

Across the border, Atlanta, Georgia completely shut down in perfect gridlock. The South was frozen solid, making headlines around the world.

It was beautiful.