The Blizzard and the Challenge

As 2022 has started, the winter has finally taken shape. It snowed in my area for the first this winter yesterday. Well, we though it was just snow.

Places started to close up. It was unexpected for such a large amount of snow to fall after seeing a warm December. It was supposed to be 2 - 4 inches, and stop snowing at around noon. But It didn't. At 1 PM, it was still snowing and there was at least 6 inches of snow on the ground. It kept snowing, burring things, causing huge trees to sag, until at around 2 PM it finally stopped.

By that point, the snow was only up to your shins. Not too bad, but more than expected. There had been multiple small avalanches that covered up roads and made it cold and misty in areas. At this point, no tree shorter than 12 feet was still standing. No plows came through the smaller neighborhoods. It had done the damage for just 6 inches.

By 3 PM, some of the ice on the roads had started to melt, and most people finished shoveling their driveways. The first cars started to leave their houses temporarily. It wasn't until 4 PM that chaos struck.

With all the fallen trees, the roads were barley drivable. You couldn't walk ten feet out into your backyard without tripping on a branch. There were still no plows anywhere but the major roads. School and shops kept closing. And at around 4:30, it happened.

By that point in the day, It was unbearable to be trapped in your home like everyone was. And then, when things couldn't be any worse, the power shut off. Over 70% of the county had no heating or lights as the sunset began, and no one had internet except for the small few that had special networks.

It wasn't until 5:00 PM the next day, aka 45 minuets ago today, that the internet came back and the power started to be restored, but that 24 hours without communication or travel marked the bad beginning of 2022.

I was lucky enough to not lose power, although I had no internet. When It finally came back, I rushed to make this post, in fear that I would connection again, but It stayed. I was on a fellow algebra student's blog when I saw something that I want to do in a way.

On my friend's dad's blog, not my friend's blog, it showed the stats for a challenge he and my friend attempted. They tried to read 100 200 page books in 2021, and ended up smashing that goal with 140 much longer books.

I will similarly attempt to write 100 short stories in 2022, which is 8 a month, or 2 short stories every week. It will be tough, but I think I can do it. Of course, my friend and his dad did it with two people, one reading 73 books and the other 67. I have to write 2 short stories every week by the end of the year on my own. Do I think it's too ambitious? No. Will I try anyway? Of course.

Well, anyway, with that typed, have a good day, and get out.