He’s back, they were closed.  There’s rice here, and leftovers, as I’ve said, so we surely won’t starve.  We were going to leave Monday, to get back to Minnesota by Tuesday afternoon/evening, but I’m not sure how that will work out.

It all sounds like you guys are in the middle of one of our normal winter storms.  I’m guessing that they aren’t prepared for that much snow down there.  Up here you would find people out shovelling their walks and driveways no matter how hard it’s coming down.  The plow crews do a pretty good job of getting onto things as soon as it starts.  It’s a real pain to be snowed in when you don’t have much food in the house.  I’m guessing the corner stores are closed too?

Ahdora - 19 December 2009 09:13 PM

. . .but I really wanted to see the old Hubble camera and corrective lens that they put up in the Smithsonian…

Wow, I didn’t know that your vision was so bad that you needed corrective lenses that strong. . .

gray - 19 December 2009 11:24 PM

It all sounds like you guys are in the middle of one of our normal winter storms.  I’m guessing that they aren’t prepared for that much snow down there.  Up here you would find people out shovelling their walks and driveways no matter how hard it’s coming down.  The plow crews do a pretty good job of getting onto things as soon as it starts.  It’s a real pain to be snowed in when you don’t have much food in the house.  I’m guessing the corner stores are closed too?

There were two main problems that they had here.  The first was that it started off as rain and then switched to sleet and then to snow.  If it had just been snow, it wouldn’t have been as bad.  But those inches of ice all over the roads under the snow messed things up a lot.

Secondly, people just didn’t know what to do because they’re not used to this.  They had more snow in one afternoon than they’ve had in the past three years.  They’re used to an inch or two of snow that melts off of the roads in no time and that you can just sweep off of the sidewalks with a broom.  Instead we got this.  People didn’t know what to do around the house to keep things safe and working.  Motorists didn’t know how to handle the traffic conditions.  And the public works folks didn’t know how to properly prepare for or deal with the snow.  And so we had people panicking on the roads and crashing all over the place, and the public works people going out and packing down the snow on the roads to make even more and thicker ice.

Washington, D.C. is probably even less used to this sort of thing than we are here in the mountains.

It’s like a guy who has been to the beach a few times suddenly having to survive when cast adrift in a life raft.

At least the main snowfall seems to be over with now.  There’s still more to fall, but not so much so fast.

No, I’ve lived in other States more accustomed and better suited but a lot of this also has to do with such a densely populated area.  People are not equipped either because this area from here all the way down to Acci’s area is labeled ‘semi tropical’ so no, we don’t have the widespread mechanisms in place since they are so rarely needed.  You would not buy snow chains if you lived in Hawii or in Florida Keys either, nor would you built boats in the middle of dessert unless your name happens to be Noah.

This is extremely unusual for this area.

It’s still snowing here and drifting.  There was an accumulation of 18 inches at the back door but it’s now drifted and collected additional snow and looks to be 2-1/2 feet to 3 feet deep at that entrance.

hulitoons - 20 December 2009 01:11 AM

No, I’ve lived in other States more accustomed and better suited but a lot of this also has to do with such a densely populated area.  People are not equipped either because this area from here all the way down to Acci’s area is labeled ‘semi tropical’ so no, we don’t have the widespread mechanisms in place since they are so rarely needed.  You would not buy snow chains if you lived in Hawii or in Florida Keys either, nor would you built boats in the middle of dessert unless your name happens to be Noah.

This is extremely unusual for this area.

It’s still snowing here and drifting.  There was an accumulation of 18 inches at the back door but it’s now drifted and collected additional snow and looks to be 2-1/2 feet to 3 feet deep at that entrance.

On the bright side, snow is an excellent insulatorand will keep your utility bill down,

Bebelicious - 20 December 2009 06:27 AM

On the bright side, snow is an excellent insulatorand will keep your utility bill down,

You know Bebe, I had been considering that yesterday with a bit of wonder really since it was warmer in here than I thought it ought to be and looked up at the bedroom ceiling imagining how much snow was up on the roof and then thought about igloos made of ice.

Perhaps some of you may think I am really silly but when I realized that this storm was coming and was reinforced by Acci’s videos, I suddenly became very excited (actually, maybe you can tell by my posts if you read between the lines!). 

I suddenly became a very small child and kept running to the front door or window throwing the shades and curtains wide watching for the first flake that would make it real.  Then I waited and waited.  Even having to run out to the store to make sure we had ‘stuff’ (even those donuts) just in case was a kind of prelude excitement.  It was like it had been when I was very little and saw snow for the first time, or the day before Christmas morning. 

The waiting was a long thing, anticipating, watching and I didn’t want to go to bed but finally we had to because it was late and I’d looked one last time but the ground was still bare, and the trees just stood still and it was just another cold night. 

But then I climbed out of bed one last time before sleeping and saw the first flakes and a bit of dusting and was so excited telling Erik ‘It’s begun!  It’s snowing!’ and then I slept fitfully and rose early to magic and all day long I watched it fall and recorded it here just so it would be real.

It was a day-long thing and it was like a ride, the first one on a roller-coaster and it was beautiful! 

When the snow ended finally, and I watched it thin and then stop, I felt deflated and old and sad.  It’s beautiful to see now that the sun is shining down on it, but for the life of me I cannot understand my elation in the first place since I’ve had such horrible things happen in snows long now in my personal history. 

Still, for whatever reason, this snow was a gift I think, unexpected and now I have to figure out why it made me feel the way it did and does HAHAHAHA!

What happened to global warming?

It went south for winter…

Snow here in The Netherlands too. We had 7 cm yesterday noon. It is several years ago we had this much snow. Our country, not being used to that, has come to a complete halt (or at least all public transport has).

Took two long walks yesterday with the camera, here some of the first pictures. “Snowiana Jones” is my own handicraft

[IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/marcoaliaslama/Sneeuw20Dec09_snowiana_jones.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/marcoaliaslama/Sneeuw20Dec09_139.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/marcoaliaslama/Sneeuw20Dec09_Burcht_145.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/marcoaliaslama/Sneeuw20Dec09_coeli_117.jpg[/IMG]

Ooooooooooooooooo LaMa how beautiful it is where you live!  I love Snowianna Jones HAHAHAHA!

Here’s another one, shot last evening. Actually a stitch of 6 vertical images, with an almost 180 degrees view. It shows the backside of the Town Hall.

Bigger version (1280x655 pixels) here

[IMG]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/marcoaliaslama/stadhuis_sneeuw_avond890x461.jpg[/IMG]