Still stuck in the snow

8:30 pm and the house is already asleep.

I can hear the dripping of water from the icicles outside.

Three roast beasts later and we are still snowed in. Well, mostly snowed in. The market a block away was open through the whole blizzard but getting to it took us a while. We didn't lose power or phone or internet. The boiler didn't break, thankfully. So really, it's not been bad for us. Bill went to get more milk (since we have a milk-guzzling toddler) and came back with a load of carrots and yogurt, both of which we had in vast quantities already. I roasted the third beast (pork this time), made a Caesar salad, and found a savory Roman-style carrot recipe to try. In the process, we learned that tinned anchovies do actually expire. Who knew?

The snow is really too deep for our kids. WeeE and I ventured out on an adventure into the Fort at 8 am. Dauntless, intrepid explorer - with a smattering of "mom, this is BORING" followed by, "Mom, it's so beautiful!" I'm not one to enjoy long stints in the wet and cold, so we've spent a lot of time playing indoors. WeeE has been playing dress up and doing tap dance shows, which were cute until the clatter of tap shoes on hardwood started to make me nuts. WeeC has been riding her car around... and vaulting over the top with a skid and bounce that left her with a huge shiner on her forehead. She's now sporting a spongebob band-aid but isn't slowing down.

I found it morbidly hilarious when WeeC spent the better part of five minutes trying to stuff her babydoll into the play oven. I really wish I'd caught that with the camera.

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Next morning: For a while last night, it looked like Bill would be heading in to work this morning. DC gov claimed to be opening on time, the university was not closed and DC schools were going to try a 2 hours delay.

Which was delusional. Even in DC, which I agree is getting our streets plowed and cleaned and put together faster than the burbs, we are not ready for people to start back to work. The sidewalks are not cleared at all, which is crucial in a pedestrian city. It's ironic, perhaps, that the jurisdiction that relies most heavily on pedestrian access is the first in the region to get the roads clear. That's nice, but without sidewalks, Metro and Metrobus, we are just as stuck as Fairfax is without the residential streets plowed. Yes, people can walk in the streets, but as motor traffic picks up, that options becomes decidedly less safe. Plows are putting snow on the sidewalks, bus stops, and intersections, meaning that often the cleaner streets mean more barriers for walkers. As the streets get better, the cars begin to take dominance again and our walking conditions worsen, until enough snow melts to balance things out again. 

Thinking in this vein, it makes me wonder when it'll be safe for DC school kids to walk to school again. We go from being ahead of the game in the short term (with better cleared streets) to falling behind (no safe options for pedestrians) for the long haul.  A mix of apathy and incompetence, spiced with inability, cripples the city for days after a snow event. Suffice to say, DC schools opted to close after all when it became clear that the streets were unsafe to walk in, sidewalks were not cleared and Metro still can't run its full lines.

I don't have a solution except to get out and shovel more. I guess I should get on that.

Comments

[Polly Papp]

Ah...how I harken back to the Blizzard of '96. All the snow and immobility creates a "place out of time" feeling. Besides the backbreaking labor/shoveling, I think this feeling is a good tonic for everyday lives.

[ush]

Hey, lighten up on the suburbs a bit. Out here we, too, can walk to the grocery, pharmacy, bank, library, most awesome 5-and-dime ever, gas station (the kind where they pump for you, check your oil, and wash your windows no matter what pump you happen to pull up to), the fire station, the vet, five bus stops (3 mile ride to Metro if you can't bike it), and some eateries. Our 1/4 block street was plowed (not to pavement), but all cross streets were pretty decent. These snowy days (or other weather-related "catastrophes")are just a reminder of how meshed the DC, VA, and MD citizens are. No matter how great any of the roads or how close the public transport...if you live in one state/commonwealth/district and work in another...you will have some trouble until the sun gently melts it all. Oh, that reminds me to try and dig out the storm drains...*sigh*