Snow days

Earlier this week the huge storm everyone had been talking about developed and positioned itself so that we were in the blizzard track.

It began snowing Wed night around 10pm and by the time we went to bed at midnight everything was covered in a blanket of white.  Since the temperature has been below freezing for a week the snow didn't melt as it typically does.  The light and fluffy snow fell gently, as the wind gusts had not yet arrived.

Thurs is my regular day off and Spouse's office closed so we were both home for a snow day.  By mid-morning the wind was really gusting.  Poor Marvin & Walter didn't want to go outside.  They hate the wind, even if its warm outside, so it was extra offensive to them to have the gusty wind and temperature around 13 degrees.  So we decided to take them out onto the screened porch to do their business, since it was partially shielded from the wind.  This technique was somewhat successful.  

The wind created crazy drifts.  Check out the drift outside the screened porch which was easily 3 feet high.  

There was another drift INSIDE the screened porch near the opposite corner which was nearly as tall.  This photo shows how crazily the wind affected the snow.

Notice how the left side of the driveway and even the grass have NO snow on them, yet there were drifts nearby that were easily 3 feet high.  Wild!

We stayed in the house and watched movies all day, with brief breaks for food.  Marvin & Walter took great advantage of the electric space heater we had on while watching TV.

But most of the time they looked like this:

Knowing the storm was coming we'd stocked up on comfort foods, so we had grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, Poptarts, and chicken pot pies.  We also cooked our Hello Fresh meals.

Both mine & Spouse's companies closed the offices today as well so we had another snow day at home.  We watched more movies in the morning but after lunch I did brave the frigid temperature to do some shoveling.  This photo shows the height of the drift between my car and the convertible.  Notice its taller than the shovel.

The nice thing about the wind is that it eliminated the need to clean off the cars.  The snow was light and fluffy so it wasn't back-breaking to shovel, but there was a LOT of it to move to get my car out to the street.

The street was "plowed" if you want to call it that.  We didn't see the plow since it came while we were sleeping, but it appears that a pick-up truck with a blade on the front made 1 pass and that was it.  The street is still very dicey now.  But at least its passable.

Typically when we get snow here it doesn't stick to the ground because the ground isn't cold enough.  That was not the case this time, as we'd been below freezing for several days in a row, also not typical.  And usually the temperature warms up the next day after a snowfall so it melts quickly.  That, too, isn't happening this time, as our temperatures aren't supposed to get above freezing until maybe Mon.  But I'm not complaining.  The snow is really beautiful and since we have had 2 days at home together with our dogs, comfy and cozy in our home, its been really nice.

Wintery weekend

In the wee hours of the morning on Sat it began snowing.  It was very cold (in the teens) and it was very windy.  I got up for work at 7:30 to find several inches of accumulation, the wind howling, and the snow still coming down strong.  I checked my email on my phone to find that my company's offices were closed due to inclement weather.

So I went back to bed.

We got up a while later and I tried to take Marvin & Walter outside for their morning pee and poop.  They don't like wind even when its warm outside, so you can imagine their reaction to the wind, the extreme cold, and the blowing snow.  I was able to get them to pee but then they ran back to the front door.

Spouse & I had planned to undecorate the Christmas tree on Sun (my regular day off) but since we were snowed in with not much to do, we did it on Sat.  We even got the tree taken apart and everything stored back in its place in the garage.  This process always makes me a little melancholy but at least we had the fireplace going to make us cozy and the 'blizzard' blowing outside to give us something beautiful to look at.  The snow finally stopped sometime after dark.

After breakfast on Sun I donned my rarely worn snow boots (which were purchased for $11.95 and resemble Napoleon Dynamite's boots), hat, and gloves and began clearing the snow off the cars and shoveling the walkways.  The snow was light and easy to move, but there was ice underneath it on the street.

Later that night we ventured out to meet Steven & Thad at a local diner for dinner.

The crazy thing is that the forecast is for 70 degrees on Thurs!!!

The lesser-liked Jonas

So the snow from the lesser-liked Jonas started falling around 3:00 on Fri afternoon, somewhat lightly, and continued for 5 or 6 hours.  We probably got about 5 inches before it changed over to rain.  Fortunately we did NOT get the 2-3 feet of snow many of our friends and family in the DC area got by the time it was all over.

We got a LOT of strong wind though.  Crazy, howeling wind that rattled the window screens and whistled past the eaves of the house.  Fortunately there was no damage to our home or property.  But the strong winds combined with the full moon and high tide created an unusual situation that caused the canal to flood, just 4 blocks from our house.

In the photo above, you can see in the distance a multi-level condo building, and in the foreground is a park.  Between the condo building and the park is the canal, which overflowed its banks on both sides. 

The canal also 'feeds' a large parcel of marshland nearby.  When the marsh could no longer contain itself, it too overflowed onto several neighboring streets.

Spouse was off because it was Sat, and my company decided not to open on Sat due to the weather so I was off too.  We didn't leave the house at all on Sat.  We texted with family and friends in the DC area, watched TV, played with the boys, and did some laundry.  Very easy, relaxing day.  Once high tide was over and the winds died down a bit the waters began to recede.  By Sun the roads were all passable again.

Fart Car

I've written many times on this blog about alternative energies like electricity, wind, and solar.  I'm a big proponent of 100% electric cars like the Nissan Leaf which use no fossil fuels and emit no pollution.

But I just became aware of a new car that is powered by a 'natural' gas that is renewable.  Check this out:

I can't wait to order my new Flatula Backfire!

Snow

All day Mon we heard about the imminent snowfall, strong winds and extreme cold coming our way.

On Tues the State Government closed at 12 noon in anticipation of this "extreme weather event", even though the 1st flake had yet to fall.  Snow predictions for our area initially were 2"-5", but because we were right on the line of the heavier snow, rumors of 5"-9" quickly took over.  

It didn't actually start snowing until about 4:30, but it was very windy all day.  Sustained winds near 40mph made it feel even colder that it was.  Once the snow really started coming down it was like a blizzard.

With the possibility of being 'snowbound' for a day or 2, Spouse stopped at the grocery store for what he calls "storm food", which consisted of frozen pizza, slice-n-bake cookies, and chips.  The snow fell, the wind howled, and Spouse & I hunkered down for the night.

The State Government was closed today so Spouse got another day off.  My company decided to open at 12 noon.  It was next to impossible to tell how much snow we actually got because of the drifting.  In some places the street was visible, while in other places there were 2' and 3' drifts.  The wind receded, but man was it cold.  It was 7 degrees.  The high temperature today was 16 degrees.

Fortunately the wind kept the snow from building up on my car so I didn't have to clean it off.

No offshore drilling

I've written many times in this space about my strong desire to reduce America's dependence on foreign and domestic oil. The technology already exists to build fully electric vehicles that require no oil and create no pollution!
But, this technology has been successfully squelched by the big oil companies and the auto manufacturers. You see, reducing our need for oil will simultaneously reduce their vulgar profits. As long as they continue getting rich they have little to no regard for our environment.

But instead of supporting cleaner, non-polluting, renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, and electricity, some would have us believe we need to open up oil drilling on our coastlines and wildlife refuges.

We all know this is not the answer.

Even if you take away the fact that these new wells won't produce oil for 15 or more years, having more oil will not reduce the cost of gasoline. A lack of oil supply is NOT causing gasoline prices to be sky high; corporate greed is.

With President Bush promising lower gas prices if we sacrifice our coasts to Big Oil, members of both parties are clamoring to lift the ban on offshore drilling. Congress could cave under the enormous and growing pressure.

If that happens, thousands of miles of our most spectacular coasts, including California's Big Sur, Maine's Acadia National Park, North Carolina's Outer Banks, Florida's Everglades and coral reefs, and eventually the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will all be at risk of catastrophic oil spills.

The raping of our beautiful coastlines is unacceptable and completely unnecessary.

Its high time we all take some responsibility for what happens to our coastlines and educate ourselves. That's why I'm telling you about the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC. Check out how this non-profit organization is trying to defend our natural resources and how you can support such efforts. Also, take a look at this NRDC ad that recently ran in the Washington Post.

Alternative energy sources are out there! We don't need to destroy our coastlines and wildlife refuges for oil.

I urge everyone: Educate yourself, and then speak out. Tell them "No offshore drilling."

Crush du Jour: William Levy