immersed

tropical storm lee blew through our area with a vengeance, bringing with him heavy rains and widespread flooding.  despite the extended news coverage this morning on school delays, road closures and accidents, i had a mission to make it to work.  after all, i had lots to do, and no weather-related disaster was going to stop me.

but mother nature had other plans.

i was 12 miles from work when it started.  a back-up.  a back-up so bad that i had inched forward only 1 mile in a full hour and an additional mile after sitting in a standstill for 2.  we were redirected off the highway to the closest route, which brought us to a small bridge that was flooded over by a stream.  it took me a few seconds to notice there were cars that were floating in the brown, mucky water, and realize why there was a traffic attendant there -- he was making sure each car could pass through the water in the road one by one.  after some time, i made it back to the highway that would bring me to the exit for the office, only to be met by barricades -- the main road was closed!  i backtracked and finally made it to work from the opposite direction, 3.5 hours later.

the office cleared out early, since most wanted to get a headstart going home before the second round of rain was expected to start.  i've said that i like my quiet time in the office, but today there was not a soul around downstairs after 5 p.m.  in fact, all the lights were off except for the emergency ones, so it was pretty eerie being there by myself.  i stayed for a couple more hours but then decided it was time to get a move on as well.

the highway was still closed on my way home, so it took another 1.5 hours until i was back in my neighborhood.  i've had quite enough driving (or rather, sitting in my car) today.

i could say that it wasn't worth it, or next time i'll just turn around and call it a day... but i can't.  and chances are, i won't.