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Snow follies in
the nation’s capital
By Susan Olling
We had a tiny amount of snow last Wednesday that created parking lots
where roads used to be. It took Mr. History two hours to
get home. Others had equally long drives. Local government
officials were apologizing profusely, as well they should have, for not
pretreating roads beforehand. People were wondering what
would happen after the Blizzard of 2016, which was due to arrive later
in the week.
On Thursday last, Mr. History and the other rangers got an email asking
if any of them would like to work overtime shoveling snow on Friday and
Saturday. Hotel rooms would be provided. Right.
I don’t think anyone took advantage of this magnanimous offer.
Twenty-seven inches. That’s how much snow fell in our part of
MoCo from Friday afternoon through Saturday.
Before the snickering starts about what happens in greater D.C. when it
snows, the snowfall on Friday and Saturday was more than we get in an
entire winter. And we weren’t the only ones who were
digging out of several feet of snow.
And no snide comments, please, about the way we drive in snow.
News stories showing supposedly winter-hardy cities such as
Indianapolis and Minneapolis after snowstorms provide lots of
entertainment in our house. Demolition derby, anyone? I
also have long memories of living in Cleveland. Pictures of
snow-covered I-90 with jackknifed semis are well remembered.
We were told to stay off the roads after 3:00 p.m. on 22 Jan.
Easier said than done in an area where too many people take their jobs
too seriously. Not in this house, thank goodness. Thanks to
the Office or Personnel Management’s decision to close the federal
government at noon, Mr. History had the day off.
Mrs. Neighbor has gnomes on the porch. A few years ago, Mr.
Neighbor committed gnomicide with a snow shovel. That poor
B.Y.U. gnome. Someone, who will remain unidentified, made a sign
saying “Save us”. The gnomes were positioned so they faced the
front door with the sign in front of them. Mr. Neighbor brought
everyone inside before the snow started to fall.
Mr. History reported that there were plenty of tourists in town.
Not certain how many of them got out of town before the flakes started
to fall. Pity the poor hotel staffs who had to put up with
tourists who found themselves stuck here. Why? There was
nowhere to go. The Smithsonian Museums as well as the memorials
and Washington Monument, National Gallery of Art, Capitol Visitor
Center, and the U.S. Botanic Garden, and those all-important restrooms
were closed starting Friday at noon and stayed closed all weekend.
Each time there’s a “weather event”, the sentinels who walk their posts
at the Tomb of the Unknowns seem to make news. I’m not sure
why. A lot them were reportedly looking forward to this
storm and were excited about it. There’s a small enclosure where
they can stay for two hours at a time when they’re not walking the mat.
Reporters from the television stations were all over the area. My
personal favorites were the reporters who were in Ocean City, MD and
some of the Delaware beach towns. Guess they liked being in the
midst of a nor’easter. No snow, but lots of wind, massive waves,
and high water on the streets. And yes, there were out-of-towners
over there to interview. One character said he had the choice of
being in D.C. or in Ocean City. He thought it would be more
interesting on the eastern shore. That’s one word for it.
One of the weather gurus mentioned “biblical” to describe the
storm. I wasn’t aware that snow was ever mentioned in the
Bible. Mr. History said that maybe Moses parted a snowdrift.
Over $700,000 worth of parking tickets were written in the District to
those who parked their vehicles on snow emergency routes. Good
luck collecting. Yet another reason that no thinking person would
live in the District of Columbia.
We spent the weekend happily staying out of all that snow. It’s
Monday, and the roads are still messy, no surprise, so people are being
asked to stay home. Mr. History and this writer are more than
willing to comply. Schools and governments, including the feds,
are closed. Metro is slowly waking up. People are starting
to complain that their neighborhoods haven’t been plowed.
A whiny tourist was interviewed at a Metro station this afternoon
complaining about being stuck in her hotel room for a few days.
Well, dear, not sure where you could play tourist today with everything
still closed.
There are no signs of cabin fever here. It’s back to work
tomorrow.
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