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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just got back from visiting the family in New York State. It was cold there. It's much warmer here.

It was great to see everyone. My mom had her knee replaced, and now she is the Bionic Woman. She is healing well. My sister is over swine flu, which is good, because the oinking was driving my parents crazy (ha ha ha). My brother did lots of cooking. Yum. Thanks Bro. I washed a turkey. Washing a turkey feels like I am invading its privacy. It feels too intimate to wash a turkey's armpit. After all, it was a full-grown turkey, not a baby. I remember hearing stories of my great-grandma washing out the turkey with Borax. I don't know if I believe it. Or maybe I'm remembering wrong. Anyway, we ate lots and lots, and it was good.

The picture here is me with Henry. Henry was given to me when I was born by my father's students. Sadly, Henry has reached the end of his mortal life, and was laid to rest this weekend. This is a final farewell picture. He was well-loved, and led a good life.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot LIke Christmas....

I put up my Christmas tree on Veteran's Day. I know it's early, but why should I let the box sit in the middle of the living room floor for 3 more weeks when I could be enjoying the tidings of the season early? Here is a picture. I like my tree. It is relaxing. It doesn't speak back to me or put demands on me or ask me to fix its problems. Once it is up, it just stands there, radiating light and good cheer for all to see.

In Which it's ..... Christmas?

It is 67 degrees today, sunny, blue skies, and I bought a Christmas tree. It's very very weird to be wearing shorts and t-shirt and buying a Christmas tree. They were on sale cheap this weekend, so I bought a little one to put up in December. It's still weird to be thinking about Christmas when I'm wearing summer clothes.

I went to hear Temple Grandin speak at a conference yesterday. She is an advocate for people with autism, and is a very interesting woman. She's about 60 now, or maybe older, and is one of the leading experts on animal handling in the world. She also wrote several books about growing up with autism before it was really understood. She was very interesting, and was a good speaker. Her website (http://www.grandin.com) is unique. It is mostly about handling cattle, but bits of it are also about the books she has written about her life experiences.

I went for a walk in the park today. Me and about 500 other people. There was a man on the trail walking and playing soprano sax. It echoed through the woods like the soundtrack to a drama. A bit surreal, really, walking through autumn trees, nearly bare of their leaves, while improvised saxophone music echoes from afar. I kept expecting to stumble upon a couple having a heart-felt confrontation complete with tears. But I didn't. Just lots of families, joggers, and dog-walkers. And one man playing soprano sax.