The Calm After the Storm

What a lovely day it is outside.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the only sound outside is the scrape of distant snowplows.

The picture above shows the side porch of my house.  When I started shoveling, the snow on the porch was at the top of the recycle bin, and it wasn’t apparent that there were stairs.  I felt like I was digging a hole to try to get down to the sidewalk.  In fact, I thought I had hit the sidewalk when I was only at the last step.

Why did I dig this hole?  I thought it would probably be good to be able to get to the trash can.  And I’m a glutton for punishment.  Today, I may attempt to dig the end of the sidewalk to the street.  I live on a corner lot, so the sidewalk in front of my house goes all the way to the street.  I did not dig out that far because it was just going to get plowed in at the intersection.  The snow there is… possibly taller than I am, though I think it has settled some since last night.  It’s not like I’ve seen anyone out attempting to use these sidewalks (most people are walking down the street), but I should be a good neighbor and give it a shot.

I’m actually pretty lucky.  My little jurisdiction has their own plows and the drivers have been hard at work.  If I wanted to, I could get my car out on the road.  I do not want to, but it’s possible.  Having talked to friends and coworkers in the area, I realize this is a rarity.  Many people have yet to see a single plow.  So it’s going to take a while to dig out.  Of course, that also tells me that if I were to get in my car, I probably wouldn’t get far anyway.

Everything’s pretty much shut down in the DC area.  Metro is only running partial service on three lines.  I know how lucky I am to be able to work from home.  Technically, the government is closed, but at my agency, if you have a telework agreement, you work on a snowday.  I’m okay with the tradeoff – I get the benefits of teleworking at other times of the year, and this way I don’t fall too far behind in my work.

So… we’ll see how long I’m at home.  No long runs happening outside anytime soon for me – unless I want to do laps up and down my block along the sidewalk.  Which I do not.

 

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