Snow :: not as much as they predicted, but it's still more than enough!

The snow probably started in the early morning, maybe 5 or 6am. Since we already knew school was cancelled, I slept in until 7 and there was already an accumulation of snow.

And it continued to snow until after lunch. Knowing I have to leave the house tomorrow to volunteer at Maya's school (assuming there's school tomorrow), I geared up to start shoveling. But, first, off to look for a plastic ruler so I could measure the snowfall. Turns out we didn't get as much snow as the forecasters originally predicted yesterday: four inches, which isn't too bad, but still enough to warrant a good investment in time to shovel.

To motivate myself, I decided to listen to music. With some upbeat pop music blaring on my headphones I got to work. Music definitely kept me going (I'm currently obsessed with Pharrell's Happy) but singing along while shoveling in cold, dry weather is almost counterproductive. But I kept at it for an hour and a half and shoveled the walkway, the sidewalk to the driveway, the driveway, around the car, and a little bit on the side of the house.

 

I think we need to get another shovel, though, because the handle on the one we have seems short and I have to bend over a lot. Now my back is sore. Plus, it would help if more than one person could shovel at a time! Rupert and I had put off buying a second shovel because we were (perhaps naively) hoping there wouldn't be any more snow storms. Now we know better.

We're definitely done with snow for today (there's a slight chance of snow/rain on Thursday) but it's pretty darn cold, which means the ground is going to freeze and all the wisps of snow on the concrete is going to turn into a slippery, dangerous hazard. So, the question is: will there be school tomorrow?

And, with that question lingering in the air, I'm off to do Child's Pose to relax my back ... 

[updated March 4, 2014: No school today!]

I am not happy about this!

I'm beginning to regret saying things like, "I don't mind the cold too much." This year's winter seems to be never-ending. We're expecting another storm tonight and I'm sure they'll close school tomorrow.

All this after it snowed twice last week:

And the huge overnight dumping of snow the week before (which led to water issues in our basement ... again!):

It's not like Snowmageddon in 2010 when the DC Metro area got 18-32 inches of snow in one storm, but it's a different kind of weather annoyance: prolonged low temperatures with several significant (for the area) storms, leaving us with a few inches of snow each time. 

Keeping in mind this is nothing compared to what areas in the Midwest are enduring, the expectations of living here don't entail snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm. It's been quite the initiation into East Coast living.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of this storm's aftermath ... with the sincere hope that they're the last snow pictures I post this winter!

Still cold ...

Are you getting tired of my cold weather posts yet?

The weather gods are constantly looking out for the kids: All of our Snow Days have butt up against a weekend or a holiday! This week, the kids had Monday off for MLK Day, Tuesday off for staff development, and today there's no school because of the weather!

The coldest it's been in 20 years

I'm going to feel really bad sending Ian out tomorrow morning (before 7am) when it's 3 degrees out! And it figures that it's going to be a clear day and freezing tomorrow, but warm (relatively speaking) and cloudy later in the week!

Updated January 7, 2014 :: Yup, it was cold this morning! Maybe not 3 degrees, but can you really feel the difference between 3 and 7 degrees?

First snow of 2014

I stepped out of the supermarket yesterday and was greeted by a flurry of big fat snowflakes (note the melting flakes in my hair). I was a bit surprised despite Maya having told me that morning it was going to snow and the brief precipitation I felt as I was walking toward the market 20 minutes earlier.

Driving home was actually my first time driving in snow, but it was no different than driving in a light drizzle since the snow wasn't sticking. I knew the storm that hit the Midwest and Northeast was pretty bad, but I didn't have any idea it would hit us in the Mid-Atlantic as bad as it did. The temperature plummeted and the snow kept right on falling ...

[After it stopped snowing, the sky and snow made the neighborhood brighter than it usually is late at night. This picture was taken without flash.]

[Waking up this morning, I was greeted by the rising sun made all the brighter by the whiteness of the snow.]

The kids were delighted that it was another Snow Day, making it a three-day weekend. I had intended to get some shopping done today but decided against going out since I'm a bit freaked out about icy roads. Instead, I spent the morning reading in bed. Despite the blue sky and sunny weather, it was a gusty morning and the wind made it "snow" again: accumulated snow from the roof and treetops was blown loose, swirling up and sideways and back again. I could see the tiny flakes in the sunlight and watching it was not only mesmerizing but calming as well.

I managed to drag Ian out of the house for a few minutes in the afternoon to go on a walk to the cemetery behind our house. I've been meaning to go for months to see what it's like on the other side of our backyard, which we can only glimpse from our bedroom window. Although it's right along a major street, it's its own little world with gravestones from the 1800s to early 1900s, some toppled over, some surprisingly new looking. Clearly, it's not visited very often (in fact, I've only seen signs of (live) human life once since we moved in six months ago) and, strange as it sounds, I just wanted to let my "neighbors" know that even though I don't know who they are, they aren't forgotten; even briefly, I think about them everyday.

The snow does that to me. Not to be punny, but seeing even a few inches of snow freezes time for me and makes me rather introspective. No deep thoughts, but it gives me the chance to pause for a moment and think about something other than myself.

Getting used to the cold

Ian and I were walking to a classmate's house this morning, chatting about how we're getting used to the colder weather. It was a beautiful sunny morning and Ian thought it must be in the 50s. A quick look at my weather app told us otherwise:

I'm finding that temperatures in the mid-30s are actually tolerable, especially when the sun's out. This would've been unthinkable when we lived in LA. In the first place, when is it ever in the mid-30s in LA?? What passed as "freezing" for us back then were temps in the low- to mid-50s, which is pleasant, warm weather here. 

Just goes to show, you get used to most things!

Snow Day

Second Snow Day in a row (although, officially, yesterday was an Emergency Weather Day because of icy conditions). It's not even officially winter yet and we've already used up two of the four Snow Days we can have before the district starts tacking on days to the end of the school year. 

My brother-in-law and his wife live in Rochester, New York and we were talking about snow over Thanksgiving, and it came up that DC-area "Snowmageddon" was a regular occurrence in their area. Which makes me wonder how bad it has to get in places like Rochester, Minnesota, or Canada before they declare a Snow Day. 

The kids are, obviously, enjoying this unexpected long weekend. I actually am too. I've decided not to venture out and I'm taking advantage of the serenity (minus the kids' voices) to catch up on some reading. Luckily, we have enough food in the house so I don't have to go out. 

7:45ish

8:45ish

9:45ish

10:45ish

11:45ish

OK, so most of the pictures look the same, but it's been snowing consistently for several hours so it's piling up more than it did on Sunday. 

By 3:00 the scene was already changing ...

There was just enough snow for me to build a snow penguin:

First real snow fall!

[photo collage by Rupert]