In January 2016 a blizzard dropped more than 30 inches of snow on parts of the DC area. This area is not used to dealing with that much snow. As a matter of fact just a few hours before the blizzard we got a miniscule amount of snow and it created gridlock for hours! Much of the big snow fell Friday night through Saturday night. Looking out the front door it was clear that there was going to be a lot of shoveling ahead. Fun, right? More fun than you can imagine! It's all a matter of perspective and how you look at it.
Saturday some effort was put into shoveling, but the snow was still coming down so it was difficult to make significant progress. By the time the sun came up on Sunday the natives were restless and started to come outside.
The adults got busy taking care of their own property first. After all, at some level that amount of snow brings out the survival instincts in all of us. For many of us, the first challenge was getting the front door open and shoveling our way down the front steps. Then of course, there was the matter of getting to the cars and shoveling the sidewalks. It became clear very quickly that teamwork was going to be the key to success! It didn't take long to learn that there was something fun, interesting, and exciting for all ages. The biggest challenge quickly became where does all this snow get moved to?
The adults and older teenagers carried some of the snow across the street and tossed it into the common area. It didn't take long before the shovels of snow turned into a snow mountain range for the younger kids to climb on.
The snow on the front steps and on the sidewalk was thrown into the front yards. This resulted in mountains of snow reaching 8 feet and higher all over the neighborhood. As the adults were working the preschool children quickly learned how to climb the mountains. They also got imaginative and created slides down the mountains! Of course, that resulted in some snow returning to the sidewalk, but as long as the kids were happy the adults were happy too!
In addition, some of the kids took the opportunity to be brave and climb into the trees that they would not otherwise have been able to reach!
With all this excitement outside, the furry felines decided the smartest course of action was... you guessed it! Stay inside and take a nap!
As the streets got clearer, the mountains of snow around town got bigger... and we all needed to learn to be patient.
It's going to take awhile to restock the grocery stores and clear all the roads. It's a good thing that people learned long ago to stock up on milk and toilet paper when snow's on the way!
Yes, this was a record breaking snowstorm. My brother called from Miami to find out how we made out. I told him I don't understand these "storms of the century". I've seen at least five since I moved to this area! He got a good laugh at that and said he didn't know I was five centuries old already! (That was the surprise lesson he learned from the blizzard!) The good news for all of us is:
Before we know it the spring will be back and we'll be enjoying the cherry blossoms again!
