snow, snow, go away!

And please, please don't come back another day . . .

Most of you may be somewhat aware of the crazy amounts of snow that we've gotten over the past 5 days in the DC region. All the terms used to describe the past week have proven accurate in my book:

Snowpocalypse

Snowpalooza

Blizzard 2010

DC typically gets snow several times over the course of a normal winter - but we're talking in the 6 inches or less category. So when we got near 20 inches back in December (see my prior post for info), needless to say it was a big deal. We got about 4-6 inches two weekends ago, which slowed things down a bit . . . but then the forecast started talking about 20-30 inches of snow headed our way. And boy, did it hit us hard. The snow started on Friday during the day & didn't stop until Saturday night. The totals vary in different parts of the region, but we got about 25 inches of accumulation where we are in Arlington. Crazy!! And it was a wetter, heavier snow compared to December's - which makes for a lot more effort when you're shoveling (which I know via my most-shoveling-I've-ever-done-experience on Monday digging out my car!)

Over the weekend, the weather reports said we might get another few inches (6 or less) starting Tuesday night. I don't know the official totals yet for the past 24 hours, but it's definitely more than 6 inches & the winds have been insane all day. So the drifting is much worse today & it's a lot colder. My Midwestern friends are probably thinking, "What's the big deal?!" Well, since snow totals like this fall in the "historic" category (literally), we're not equipped to clear out this much snow very quickly. So when you get a second storm before the first one has been cleaned up . . . let's just say that the roads are a mess & it's going to be weeks before things get back to normal around here! And don't even get me started about the people out driving around in this who have no business being on the roads . . .

The entire area has pretty much been shut down since the weekend - federal government & schools closed, etc. Today was Day #3 of no work for me. We are very grateful because we've had power the entire time, while a lot of people haven't (& still don't). The snow-plow drivers, emergency responders, state/local officials, & the weather/news folks have been amazing & deserve a huge "thank you!" I can't even imagine how exhausted they must be - and still with a lot of clean-up ahead.

As most of you know, snow is not something I miss from my time living in the Midwest! If I had known how all this would pan out, I would've driven South last Thursday (along with the entire city!) But with today's round of shoveling now done, I'm planning to settle in for another night at home - thankful for a warm, safe place to be. A few pictures are included here & I might post a few more later.

The view from our front door this morning into our courtyard.

The view from our landing this morning - the specks aren't water on the lens - it's all the snow getting blown around by the 40 mph winds.

And across the courtyard, check out the HUGE icicle! To give a point of reference, the windows on either side are about 4 feet tall. Crazy!