sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

February 11, 2006


think snow!!!!
posted by soe 4:20 pm

I’ve been like a kid on Christmas Eve, waiting for today’s snowstorm to arrive.

It was three years ago this week when D.C. last had a major snowstorm. The dates are lodged in my brain because we were in the process of moving down here from Connecticut. Rudi had come back to pick up me (and our futon) after my final two weeks of work and instead got socked in by a blizzard. Connecticut got snowed in; D.C. got wholly overwhelmed.

The snow had stopped here on Monday, I believe, but by the time we arrived two nights later, the mayor was still promising a single, passable lane on every city road sometime by the end of the week.

It seriously made me wonder what I’d gotten myself into when they eventually had to import snow plows and drivers from New Jersey (who had already finished their plowing there) to come down and dig us out.

An inch or two of snow sends the federal government scrambling to get out of the city. The mere threat of winter precipitation can be enough to preemptively cancel school in the ‘burbs.

But, at heart, I’m a New England girl. I expect (nay, like) snow in winter, and D.C. has lacked that. We haven’t even really had that much cold weather. Don’t get me wrong — I like the occasional 65 degree day in the middle of winter. But if I’d wanted it to be a regular feature, I would have moved further south.

So when the weather forecasters started talking snow for this weekend, I allowed myself to believe they could get it right this time. I imagined that there was a possibility that we might get a few inches. And as the week progressed and the anticipated accumulation started to rise, my delight grew.

Last night the meteorologists said that the storm was moving more slowly than expected (why do they always seem surprised by that down here?) and that the morning would dawn with rain and that the snow would move in during the afternoon and last until midday Sunday.

Well, it’s heading toward evening here and the precipitation has just morphed from rain to sleet (much to Posey’s utter delight, sending her bounding for the window when the ice pellets began to bounce off the air conditioner) and now to snow.

Think snowy thoughts for us. Think snowmen and angels. Think streets deserted by cars and filled with revellers. Think thick wool socks and mittens. Think the crisp smell that promises more white stuff falling soon. Think catching snow flakes on your tongue and your eye lashes. Think hot cocoa and grilled cheese and tomato soup. Think school (and work) cancellations. Think double digit accumulation. Think bright blue sky and dazzling white ground following the storm’s end. Think snow!

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