I admit it, I was an unbeliever. When D.C. forecasters started calling for another severe storm, this time dubbed "Snowmageddon", I rolled my eyes. Growing up in Rochester, New York, which is ranked among the Top 10 snowiest cities in the U.S., it takes more than a few flakes to scare me. I remember in high school hoping, praying I'd get out of school. But, even if it dumped a few feet over night I rarely got that lucky.
D.C. on the other hand, is prone to canceling school at just the sound of a few inches of snow. Mention snow and the supermarkets are picked clean within a matter of hours. Thus, I was a little annoyed when schools were preemptively canceled Thursday night, yet Friday morning held no signs of a storm. However, precisely at 11am, bits of snow started falling--Note: IT WASN'T EVEN STICKING! I kept looking out my office window and making snide remarks to my boss who was freaking out about his already canceled Saturday flight being the beginning of doomsday.
At noon all government employees were released, so I decided to enjoy my perfectly lovely afternoon and went to the gym for a long workout. I even stopped by redbox to pick up a few movies... just in case. Then, my roommate and I walked down to 7-11 to get some snacks for the night of movie watching (because no one would go to the movies). I got snowballs in honor of the weekend.
As it happens, as evening set in, it did start sticking. And it piled higher, and higher and higher. We shoveled every hour until 3 am (better to do it in little bits than all at once!) By the time it stopped snowing on Saturday, our backyard measured 26 inches of wet, heavy snow. uuuugggh. The few of us that were actually home kept ourselves busy by building a fort to read stories in (and shoveling), watching movies (and shoveling), baking (and shoveling), going to 7-11 for snacks (and shoveling) and making fresh snow cones--yum!
I had also flipped one of our couches around so I could watch the snow from the front window and keep my feet toasty on the heater. This furniture layout also came in handy Saturday evening at 2am, when my roommate and I watched a stuck snowplow in front of our house attempt to free itself. It was like watching a fly desperately trying to escape a spiderweb... it feebly flapped it's plow, weakly revved its engine, occasionally slammed on the gas and just as quickly gave up and lay there, defeated. After he initially freed himself, I ran out to tell him to go down the hill instead of his current uphill trajectory, but he didn't listen. Finally, at 3am he got a Caterpillar to come pull him out. Needless to say, he never came back.
Sunday was more low key as we cleared out the remainder of the snow from the walkway and in front of our cars, I scrambled to rebook my canceled Monday flight (now my boss can say "I told you so!"), our dear home teachers came over and we had a generally relaxing night. But as they say, it's always the most calm before the (second) storm.
D.C. on the other hand, is prone to canceling school at just the sound of a few inches of snow. Mention snow and the supermarkets are picked clean within a matter of hours. Thus, I was a little annoyed when schools were preemptively canceled Thursday night, yet Friday morning held no signs of a storm. However, precisely at 11am, bits of snow started falling--Note: IT WASN'T EVEN STICKING! I kept looking out my office window and making snide remarks to my boss who was freaking out about his already canceled Saturday flight being the beginning of doomsday.
At noon all government employees were released, so I decided to enjoy my perfectly lovely afternoon and went to the gym for a long workout. I even stopped by redbox to pick up a few movies... just in case. Then, my roommate and I walked down to 7-11 to get some snacks for the night of movie watching (because no one would go to the movies). I got snowballs in honor of the weekend.
As it happens, as evening set in, it did start sticking. And it piled higher, and higher and higher. We shoveled every hour until 3 am (better to do it in little bits than all at once!) By the time it stopped snowing on Saturday, our backyard measured 26 inches of wet, heavy snow. uuuugggh. The few of us that were actually home kept ourselves busy by building a fort to read stories in (and shoveling), watching movies (and shoveling), baking (and shoveling), going to 7-11 for snacks (and shoveling) and making fresh snow cones--yum!
I had also flipped one of our couches around so I could watch the snow from the front window and keep my feet toasty on the heater. This furniture layout also came in handy Saturday evening at 2am, when my roommate and I watched a stuck snowplow in front of our house attempt to free itself. It was like watching a fly desperately trying to escape a spiderweb... it feebly flapped it's plow, weakly revved its engine, occasionally slammed on the gas and just as quickly gave up and lay there, defeated. After he initially freed himself, I ran out to tell him to go down the hill instead of his current uphill trajectory, but he didn't listen. Finally, at 3am he got a Caterpillar to come pull him out. Needless to say, he never came back.
Sunday was more low key as we cleared out the remainder of the snow from the walkway and in front of our cars, I scrambled to rebook my canceled Monday flight (now my boss can say "I told you so!"), our dear home teachers came over and we had a generally relaxing night. But as they say, it's always the most calm before the (second) storm.
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