In Which I am Snowed In

It's official. There is no school in Northern Virginia until after New Year's. The side streets have not been plowed, and are now a melty, icy, snowy, slushy mess that are nearly impassable to anyone without 4-wheel drive. Fortunately, the main roads are clear, so I got out to buy butter to make cookies.

For those getting into the Christmas spirit and also perhaps snowed in, Smithsonian Magazine published an interesting article about Handel's Messiah. this month. Here's the link:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-Glorious-History-of-Handels-Messiah.html

In Which School is Closed

School is closed tomorrow. It stopped snowing around 5 a.m. It was sunny and relatively warm today. I slept in until 7:45, then had a leisurely breakfast. It was great. Then I went out to dig out my car before the snow got too heavy and icy. It's a good thing I did. It took an hour to dig my way to the front of the building to the parking lot, then another 2 hours to dig out my car from the three-foot drifts in the parking lot. The neighbors all helped each other. Me and 4 men were out shoveling and digging out cars. Or with garbage cans. One has to improvise when one doesn't own a shovel. One of my neighbors is from Georgia, and man, did he swear up a storm! It's hard to dig out when you don't own a shovel. I finally lent him mine. It's a little red plastic one. I suppose it's better than a 1-gallon garbage pail.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Snow-pocalypse2-79714462.html

Today it was sunny, warm, and in Buffalo, there would be school tomorrow. However, I suppose that the 3 plows owned by the State of Virginia can't plow all the school parking lots in 24 hours. So tomorrow, I will bake Christmas cookies, and maybe go see a movie. The kids in my complex are having a blast sledding down the hills and skating in the parking lot on the ice.

Biggest Snowfall in History

So, last night everyone was talking about the big storm moving up through the area. People at work were trying to finish up and leave on time, for a change. The roads were clogged with holiday shoppers trying to get gifts in case they were snowed in for days. People were rushing to get out of town for the holidays before they got stuck. Stores had long long lines with people buying bread and milk. Gas stations had long lines with people filling gas tanks for their generators. I dutifully bought a carton of milk and filled up my car with gas, and bought last-minute Christmas gifts too.

And this morning I work up to 8 inches of snow! In Virginia! And it's still snowing! They are now talking 11-20 inches by tomorrow morning. The tv stations (all two of them that I get) are all weather, all the time. People are urged not to drive unless it is an emergency. Plows can't keep up with the snow fall (all 2 of them). Here are some links about it. The second one is of President Obama's plane landing in the snow last night. Check out the pictures!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/19/AR2009121900741.html

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/politics/2009/12/19/diplomatic-storm-snow-storm

In Which I have a Merry Old Town

It is officially the Christmas season now! The annual Manassas Christmas Parade was this morning. I was a bit worried when I woke up today. It was raining and gray. Nobody wants to see Santa in the rain. However, miraculously, around 8:30, it suddenly started to snow big, fluffy white snowflakes! In Northern Virginia! Really!

It was really pretty and Christmas-y. The poor marching bands in the parade were freezing, and there were snow drifts in the tubas and on the drums. The little dance troupe girls were shivering and practically blue from cold. But it was really funny to be in that much snow this time of year. Last year I froze at the parade. This year, I wised up and brought hand-warmers and a blanket. I was quite warm, until the snow melted and my mittens got soaked.