Open Thread: Snow Day!

Hello feathered friends, I come to you from inside my bedroom where I am wearing a sweater from Old Navy and sweatpants with my tiny space heater turned on because there’s ~2 feet of snow outside already and THE HEAT IN MY  HOUSE IS BROKEN. On my way home from work – a trip that should take 40 minutes but today took 2 hours – I saw a really unfortunate city employee with a plastic shopping bag wrapped around his head because he presumably had no hat. I haven’t been able to feel my feet in an hour and a half. I am thankful that I have a shamefully full-to-bursting drawer of legumes to subsist on because there is NO way I am leaving again to go to the store. My housemates and I debated going out to take shelter in a cafe until our pathologically inept landlord gets some mysterious “friend” named “Chuck” over here to fix the godd*mn heat, but we ultimately elected to freeze because at this point nothing can induce us to go outside again. Probably we will end up setting our belongings on fire inside a trash can, a la Rent, and playing Settlers of Cataan until we die and/or help arrives.

Anyways, the East coast is getting a lot of snow, huh? How are you dealing?

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!
Related:

Rachel

Originally from Boston, MA, Rachel now lives in the Midwest. Topics dear to her heart include bisexuality, The X-Files and tacos. Her favorite Ciara video is probably "Ride," but if you're only going to watch one, she recommends "Like A Boy." You can follow her on twitter and instagram.

Rachel has written 1141 articles for us.

176 Comments

  1. ugh, we have about a foot here already! (mid-missouri) and it’s snowing like crazy. ugh. my girlfriend is at work and will be staying the night (she works in a hospital, so no snow days for her. . .) So, i’m alone with my doggie and am watching a documentary called “before Stonewall” on netflix. fun times. :)

    • I’m in Shawnee, Kansas right now with 10 inches so far. Snowed in with my homophobic brother who doesn’t know I’m gay. He won’t let my sister-in-law and I watch Ellen. He doesn’t like her because she is a lesbian and is “gross”. He is ruining my snow day.

        • Yeah, it wasn’t fun. I actually live in northern KC but I work in Overland Park, KS. So I was staying with my brother during the bad weather. I’m back home now, thankfully! Where in Missouri are you from?

  2. I feel like a dick making this the first (or other early) comment, but here in Sydney we’re having the opposite weather pattern. The city’s supposed to get to 33C today (around 91F), but it will probably be hotter where I work/live.

    I dream of snow right now!

      • I’m just over the hill from Dina and watched that snowball melt mid air over my head. The resulting droplets were very refreshing, *hugs missy* thanks! It’s nearing the witching hour and it is still swelteringly hot. Midnight swim at Bondi Dina & other Sydneysiders?

  5. already 1/2 inch of ice in Indpls from round 1 – round 2 just started and already added a good 1/4 inch of sleet on top! weeeeee…. got the fireplace cranked! now who’s got a bear skin rug???

  6. I’ve already had half a day off because my dad told me to come home early, and we have a guaranteed snow day tomorrow! :D Everything’s falling vertically, it’s fantastic.

    The radio keeps promising Thundersnow. I demand Thundersnow. I want it to be my new superhero name. I want Zeus to crack the sky open, roar, and then release the Thundersnow. I am ready.

    • YES!! we haven’t gotten thundersnow, but um, speaking of AWESOME!!! I had today off work and tomorrow has been called off too! so possibly only 3 days of warehouse bitchery this week! Hooray for fewer paper cuts and sore muscles!

    • HAHAHA. My friend and I were just talking about how Thundersnow sounds like a superhero or a Transformer. I love you.

      We may get Thundersnow in Indiana. Excited. :)

        • off the top of my head, Storm from the X-Men, (sort-of) Katara and Aang from Avatar: the Last Airbender, but my FAVOURITE weather-related superhero is Tris Chandler from the Tamora Pierce Circle books.

          [/drive by superhero knowledge]

    • Thundersnow, that is amazing. I think we’ve been getting it here (either that or the snowplow is going past every 15minutes, I can’t decide)

  8. so fitting…I actually DO have a snow day today! who knew 22-year-olds could be as excited as (if not more than) a second-grader about a day off school?

    • this 25 year old freaked out about a day off of work! 2 days in a row! my company has only called off work before today once in the 10 years my supervisor has been there!

  9. Reporting in from southern Wisconsin, where our blizzard started last night but is slated to get far worse overnight today. Couple of feet expected, I think.

    Days like these are excellent reminders of how damn lucky I am to work from home, is all I’m sayin’.

    • So lucky! My late afternoon classes at the UW somehow didn’t get cancelled like everyone else’s, so I basically had to walk completely bent over. At least we’re closed tomorrow.

      • Did they finally decide to cancel classes? I was hearing a lot of bitching from student friends earlier today that it might now happen.

        Another record-breaking-attempt snowball fight in the offing, perhaps?

  11. We have had SIXTY INCHES of snow in Minneapolis this winter and March is the snowiest month of the year. All the streets are basically single lanes now and there is nowhere to park and I spend all of my free time worrying about the ice dam on my roof that is growing and morphing like some sort of roof glacier threatening to change the landscape of life as we know it or cause a leak in the roof – whatever.

  12. i moved from the deep south to indiana in august, so this is my first official snow day, ever. i must say, having the day off is quite nice. my level of productivity today has proven my theory that i’d be a much better student if i didn’t have to go to class all the freaking time.

    obvi i’m hoping for tomorrow off too.

  14. I’m in Chicago where it has been snowing horizontally for about 2 hours now. Major universities (Columbia, DePaul) that never close started cancelling classes around noon today. And the wind has been making waves crash over the beaches and onto Lake Shore Drive, so that’s a mess (from what I understand, I’m not about to go see…). The plastic on my living room windows is bowing/shaking like mad. And I hear a lot of sirens. My roommate accidentally set a dishtowel on fire earlier, I had to remind her that we are not *yet* to the point of burning things to stay alive…

    • the snow is up to my knees! just took the dog out, he’s funny, boucning around in the snow cause it’s too deep for him to walk in!

    • ugh, me too. my lady is at work. (working in hospitals is stupid, even if she does look hot when she comes home with her chef’s coat on. . .) so it’s just me and the dog, and she’ll be staying the night at work. ugh!

  16. NWI-Chicago area here…

    I’m already bored with this blizzard. Crazy wind/white out like conditions that I’ve been watching out my window while watching SVU all afternoon.

    Tonight’s dog walk should be real interesting though, as my littlest guy seems to not care how windy it is and loves the snow.

  19. Im sorry abt the snow mid and east coasters. The sun is shinning bright and it is a nice 51 degrees in LA. Sending some warmth from California…..

  20. sadly, no days off for me at the hospital. however, this funny conversation occurred between me and my brother today via text message (we’re both med student nerds):

    Me: I had a patient today with horrible Alzheimer’s…hope that never happens to me :(
    Bro: Pretty sure being gay is a risk factor
    Me: I heard eating Chick fil A causes Alzheimer’s
    Bro: That’s gay propaganda
    Me: You’re gay propaganda

    we have an ongoing joke about Chick fil A not serving gay people and he knows how I feel about the store anyway but he likes eating there so we tease each other.

    • That took such a long time to deteriorate into a Your Face conversation! I’m glad I’m not the only one whose conversations with adult siblings always end up going there.

      • haha right? also, now that you’ve used the phrase “adult siblings” you’ve just made me feel quite old, even though Bro and I are both in our mid-twenties and I should’ve realized this sooner.

  21. It’s windy as fuck in Chicago… Northwestern just sent all the students an email warning us to stay away from the lake because there are supposed to be 20-foot waves. Not a lot of snow yet, but I’m very happy to be sitting in my apartment making a vat of soup and watching Buffy.

  22. I got up for my 9am, fully expecting Boston College to have cancelled my classes for the day. Nope! The trudge to campus was unbelievable. I was almost disappointed that nobody was waiting at the front gates to congratulate me and give me a cup of hot chocolate.

  23. It just started snowing horizontally here in Michigan. Cancelled work today and probably tomorrow too! Too bad I have tons of schoolwork to do so it’s not really a day off.

  24. We’re steadily moving toward 8-12 inches here in Eastern Kansas. Classes were cancelled for today and they just sent out the word that they’re cancelled tomorrow too (-18 degree wind chill? no thanks!).

    Honestly, though? I’m so bored. I tried to get people to have a snow party out in the blizzard, but they weren’t having it. :( I’m by myself in an apartment so I guess this gives me a good chance to finally just finish Earthbound or something.

  25. i have spent the first 27 years of my life snowed in in various places including new york city, ohio, michigan and northern michigan. but then i moved to california and i rode my bike just now and it was so sunny and nice. you guys should move here!

    i just wanted to say that kitten photo is perfect

  27. ok fellow homogay-tastic ladies (and everyone else) my project for the rest of this time spent snowed in alone is to learn about gay history because i am tragically un-informed. any suggestions of online resources would be appreciated. (i obviously can’t get to a library in this shit. :P)

  28. it hasn’t started snowing yet in toronto but if i believe the TV i only have a few hours left before iceagefourfeaturingrayromano and should stock up on essentials.

    wine- check.
    cigarettes – check.

    praying 4 uni to shut down tomorrow because i don’t want to write a test. am not studying because there is no point, right?

    we’ll get through this.

  29. You guys discussing walking your dogs in the snow is a pleasant reminder why I moved to Iowa over Chicago. I may never date again (or even meet another queer girl), but I could afford a place with a fenced yard. I’ll never walk the dogs in the snow again.

  30. Speaking from Maine, the great north where we only have 3 inches so far, it’s cold and we are supposed to get two feet and all of my professors are holding class tomorrow. I can’t walk on slippery, shifty things due to excruciating tendinitis.

    So, on the couch with a blank, drinking my fifth(!) cup of tea. (Peachberry Jasmine)

  31. Taking advantage of the cold/maybe snow to stay in and read The IHOP Papers. I hope you’re pleased, Rachel.

  32. I’m jealous. We never get snow days in Canada, in my whole life (23 years) I have had only one snow day. A few weeks ago we had a stretch of -35 C days (that’s -31 F for you Americans), and nothing got cancelled.

    • girrrll where do you live?!!?
      i definitely haven’t had many [ottawa for 6 yrs and toronto for 3] and the kind of snow that gets other kids snow days makes us scoff but when they do come they’re a srs blessing <3

      • A girl I know in Virginia got a snow day when they had 3cm.
        Us poor Canadians have to wait for at least 30cm. Usually.
        Maybe tomorrow!

  33. I probably won’t be able to leave the house until Thursday. We’ve gotten over 15 inches so far, with more to come overnight. It’s so bad, they’ve actually closed the interstate (I-70) between St. Louis and Kansas City.

  34. this is a historical day! my place of work shut down operations! they NEVER do that! i’m in the west suburbs of chicago (i think it’s considered a suburb). anywho, i have two bottles of wine, some peta chips and hummus, and all the internet access i need to download and watch anything i want!!! and V comes on tonight, i get to watch it at home for once!!! all i need a cuddle buddy! it’s getting crazy outside, some day after tomorrow type stuff lol!

  36. Just ice for me so far. We keep missing the snow. Not that I’m complaining. We got enough last year. It did make for some funny puppy videos, though. I’m watching a show on child trafficking and sacrifices. So that’s fun.

    • Hey girl—ice is gonna be wicked, please be careful–and watch out for the numerous assholes at your work who insist on driving their jeeps onto the lake, just adjacent to the Warning Thin Ice sign.

  37. UW-Madison just cancelled classes for tomorrow, which basically never happens. We’re supposed to get 12-18 inches of snow and it’s blizzarding and the wind is crazy and it’s not even as bad as in other places. But I’ll support anything that lets me lay around in sweatpants listening to Tegan and Sara and writing a paper for my LGBTQ Studies class. And reading AS.

  39. Ha, I just got back from a hike because it’s been unseasonably warm here (it’s mid-50s and sunny). I am kinda jealous though, cause I love the snow.

  40. It’s just crazy how much of this country is affected by insane winter weather!

    I think we need to create a drinking game of sorts… we’re all stuck inside of our homes…

    • I’ve got vodka, cinnamon schnapps, tequila, and way too many potatos. This snow party’s gonna get crazy!

      • I have a full vintage bottle of Canadian Club and a six pack of Fosters (don’t ask why) but nobody to drink with! Oy!

        I figured if I get people to drink on here and friends on fb it’s like we’re all drinking together.

      • I’ve got some boxed wine chilling in the garage, and some brandy and sherry left over from when I made homemade mince pies…
        can I share your tequila?

        • Take it. A friend gave it to me for my birthday but as my only memory of the last time I drank it are various people in tiger, Obama, and Michael Jackson masks dancing to techno I think I’m gonna lay off for awhile.

    • i have two bottles of wine, moscato and some red wine that the wine guy said was sweet, some absolut acai vodka and some kettle one!!!

  41. I mean, I’m from Syracuse, NY where it snows SO MUCH that like, no blizzards ever really bother me too much.

    What does bother me is that I have to go dig out my car eventually, and it’s annoying because the plows will have completely covered it by then.

    On the bright side, classes for tomorrow are already canceled.

    The thing that worries me the most though is that where I am right now (New Paltz, NY) is right in the middle of the big ice warning area, and I feel like a power outage in a dorm would suck so many balls it’s ridiculous.

    In the mean time, I’m going to continue my viewing of the BBC Pride and Prejudice because after seeing the King’s Speech *twice* I’m on a huge Colin firth kick.

  42. I’m in St. John’s, Newfoundland (anyone else?). The grad school lifestyle keeps me mostly tied indoors on my computer anyways, but after a lovely hike through the snow last night, I went ripping around my empty neighbourhood on my mountain bike with studded tires. I love winter cycling, especially when the cars can’t handle it!

    • yes to winter cycling! i just started mountain biking in the snow this winter and it is SO much fun. i’m not sure though i’ll be able to do it in the 1-2 feet of fresh snow we’re supposed to be getting. that sounds tricky.

      also, that cat pic is awesome. i like how that cat looks kind of pissed.

      • I picked up a winter beater from the co-op I volunteer with, and run it with some tires that I studded with sheet metal screws. It’s ridiculously badass, and gives a lot more traction than plain rubber tires would.

        • Um yeah that is ridiculously badass.

          I don’t have studded tires because they are so pricey. I hadn’t heard of this DIY method. I just use the 2.1’s I have on there. And I try to avoid ice, which doesn’t always work.

          So how exactly did you do this? Do you like stick the screw in from the inside of the tire, so that the sharp end of the screw is giving you the traction? Do you have some sort of liner in the tire so the screws won’t puncture the tube?

    • On a similar note, if you run/hike in winter, you can put drywall screws in your shoes, and they will grip the snow. If you can swing it, Icespikes work really well:

      http://www.icespike.net/

      Even if you can’t afford them, if you watch the video, it will tell you where to install them, so you’ll know where to put the drywall screws.

  43. snow day evening:
    -waching Pretty Little Liars on hulu
    -eating
    -taking a nap to Rufus Wainwright music
    -pretending that my lamp is SAD light therapy (it isn’t)

    now I am going to go find all the friends who live in my building

  44. I just finished the last episode of an epic 3 month 7 season Buffy marathon first time watching).
    Now I am bereft and need a new show to watch! Any suggestions?

    • I’m currently in the middle of a similar first time Buffy watching. Have you seen Torchwood? It’s British sci-fi, has lots of bi characters and they all have cute accents.

      • I’m glad I’m not the only one coming so late to the Buffy party!
        I have a serious love for Torchwood, except the last season just killed me.
        Now they are moving it to America to die a slow death, probs.
        British TV is tops.

    • I don’t know if this is your thang, but I just finished the first three seasons of Sons of Anarchy. Such a good show.

      Also, if you’ve never watched Friday Night Lights…do it!

          • It’s more about the people and the town than it is about the football. I say give it a shot…at least watch the first episode. I don’t like football at all but I absolutely loved the show.

          • I am a huge Buffy and Torchwood fan, I watch all the genre TV, and also I come from a country where a) no-one plays that stupid sport and b) we think it’s hilarious that you guys have to put on all that padding to play rugby, but, for real, Friday Night Lights is probably the best television I’ve ever seen (not to overhype it or anything). It’s not really about the football at all – my whole family adores it, from my super-butch brother and his shopaholic girlfriend to dorky English major SF fan me. And also my parents. Honestly, give it a go.

  45. UK here: it’s stupid o’clock but I can’t sleep so amusing myself with your snow days stories. We had ours over a month ago and I’m not hoping for a repeat. Its the after effects I hate. Black ice, cavenous potholes…
    Snow, much like excess weight, appears without much warning, is tolerable for a while but a bitch to get rid of!
    Stay warm, safe and inside snowbie’s!

  46. I’m in Colorado. Yesterday it was almost 60 degrees and sunny, today it has been icy and about -10 with the wind chill. Just got home from having happy hour drinks and realized I only have 2 beers and no alcohol mixers. Going to brave the cold to get more beer. Why waste a good buzz when there’s nothing to do but stay in and drink!

  47. i am in southern-texas and there’s a probability of snow or freezing rain. i don’t know what to do. i don’t own any legit winter wear. HELP!

  48. That’s why I moved from Canada to Hong Kong. Of course, we never have snowy days there. 11°C. Yaaaah!!! BUT SOMEHOW MY CO-WORKERS COME TO OFFICE WEARING WOOL JACKETS AND HATS AS IF IT IS -1°C. The excuse is that they rather show up with some “fancy” clothes and don’t care much about sweating out.
    Anyway, I surely miss the fun of skiing with friends. Now poor with small pocket of money, I can’t afford ski vacation to Japan/Europe/America. THAT’S WHY I WANT A GIRLFRIEND WHO LOVES ME ENOUGH TO U-HAURL TO CANADA.

    • I remember the South Florida freeze of ’89. My parent’s left the water running on some orchids over night. By early morning ice had formed on the grass below. I remember gleefully jumping up and down crunching the ice under my shoes.

      Otherwise, I haven’t even seen snow since 2004.

      • Come visit.
        I’ll sweep the snow off the grill and we’ll heat ‘er up !
        (WASTEUNIT: BBQ AT MY HOOOUUSE ! …..you have to yell ’cause she’s at work.)

        • While it is hard to resist the promise of BBQ, the snowpocalypse is a serious deterrent. I’m gonna wait until summer.

    • Yes! I grew up in Ottawa, and I remember feeling really smug since my parent’s house is heated by a wood stove, and my dad had the foresight to go and buy a generator on the first day of the freezing rain.

  52. Its snowing haaardcore in central Iowa. School got out early today and is already canceled for tomorrow, plus I didn’t have to go into work today because its gonna be D E A D anyway. All of this was a faaaab time to get the flu…

  55. i live in one of the snowiest places on earth (even on a non-blizzard death warning day), and our school is recommending that we “bring snow shovels” to make it to class..

  57. Only a couple of inches here. I am actually super excited to shovel tomorrow because I have been lazy and need exercise. It was already school-free day so the timing’s unfortunate :(

    • i don’t plan on shoveling, but i will be out there playing with my doggie! we’re both gonna need the exercise!

  58. SNOW MUST GOOOO! I hate this weather it ruins all my plans, everything…it’s official we are in an Ice Age!

  59. I live in Minnesota, and we’ve already had a crazy amount of snow this winter already. We got more yesterday and today, and since none of it has melted since November, we have about 60 inches of snow in most places. Yeah, read that again. 60 inches is 5 feet. I live in the middle of the city, so the buildings block some of it, but they had to put lots of the snow in trucks and cart it off to somewhere else. I can’t remember anything but snow at this point.

  60. my ceiling is now leaking, I stuck my head in the attic where the leak is coming from and THERE ARE SNOW DRIFTS, people, in my attic. It is also snowing in their for reals. This needs to stop!

  61. I’m hoping this hits Ottawa soon. I maybe kinda have a report due tomorrow that I for sure haven’t started. Is 15 cm enough to cancel class? I sure hope so.

  63. whether in johannesburg is something along the lines of sydney with a few drops of rain and loads of thunder and lighting. This is good day for hanging out inside and watching tv! Ive also never seen real snow before, I even went to the Uk in winter but everywhere i went the snow didnt show up and only arrived after I left! Cant say I didnt try though!

  64. I’m actually quite enjoying the snow. As someone from Western Australian who rarely sees the temperature drop below 0C during winter this is nice for a change.

    second day with no classes!!\o/

  66. I pushed my way out of my front door this morning and flung my entire body, face first, into a 4′-5′ drift. It was AWESOME!

  67. Checking in from Boston, where the 2-plus feet of accumulated snow is currently receiving a niiice coating of ice. I’m just mad at Winter at this point, I mean, there is nowhere to put the snow!

    One of my dogs loves the snow and he happily flops around the yard and sticks his face in snowbanks. My other dog is very dramatic and hates this weather, so he stands in the little path I shoveled for him and shivers and refuses to pee. He wears a jacket. Don’t judge!

    • I’m in Boston too, and I can’t believe how bad this city is at plowing! I saw two people fall walking today, and I refuse to go back outside.

  68. The snow just started a few hours ago here (eastern NS). The entire city has basically shut down, but I work in the hospital so unfortunately snow days are a thing of the past for me. Digging out my car tomorrow morning will be wonderfullllll. :/

Comments are closed.