Long Walks On Leafy Streets

1/23/2016 Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC
It has been snowing hard here in Washington, DC. We are hunkered down for the weekend. The Mayor of the city has told everyone to stay inside. Even the Metrorail system shut down at 11 pm last night, and the buses stopped running at 5pm. We enjoyed showing Prashant the snow blanketing everything, through the windows. At one point he looked at it and smiled broadly, clearly enjoying the sight.

This was supposed to be a historic, record breaking snow and all signs are it will live up to the predictions. Around 5pm more than 20 inches must have fallen in our neighborhood and the snow is still coming down. There were worries of power outages, roof collapses and widespread damage from the wind and the snow. So far the blizzard like conditions have not caused those kinds of problems although it has shut down the area quite comprehensively. Yesterday morning I was busy preparing the home for the storm and possible power outages.
I put a tarpaulin sheet over the car so snow wouldn’t get inside the grill and also to make it easier to get the snow off of it. I covered all the AC vents to prevent hot air from getting into them and cold air from entering the house. I made sure there were enough batteries and flashlights as well as salt to melt the ice. Nicole finished all the laundry from the week. I called the roofing contractor to ask his advice about the roof. He told me not to worry too much, that it will withstand the weight of the snow and in any case a lot of the snow would be blown away by the wind. That indeed turned out to be the case.

Moreover the consistently cold temperatures kept the snow powdery and light. This also helped in relieving any remaining worry about the roof. It was also helpful when I shoveled it this morning and then again this evening. I woke up feeling a little under the weather but decided to shovel the snow anyway. If there had been no snow I would have gone running regardless of how I felt, so it made sense. The snow was knee deep when I went out and there was snow even inside the little foyer in front of the house. I spent almost two hours shoveling because one needed to scoop it several times in order to clear even a small area. It was also a problem as to where to put it because you don’t want to pile it up where it causes problems later. It would have taken me even longer if I had shoveled my elderly neighbors’ front walkway as I usually do, but the lady of the house came out and told me she had called the city. In the evening it was much easier and took me barely half an hour. I must have cleared another 4 to 6 inches of it. I plan to shovel it again tomorrow morning.

I wish I could go skiing or hiking in the snow. I don’t have skis but I have hiked in the snow many times in the past. Couple of years ago Nicole and I hiked in the Rock Creek Park when it was covered in snow, as shown in the picture. It was such an enchanting scene. For now I take pleasure in seeing others post pictures of having fun in the snow. I was particularly tickled by a video posted by the Smithsonian National Zoo showing a panda bear frolicking in the snow. Maybe next year all three of us will be able to go out and enjoy it.

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