blizzard

Blizzard envy?

/ Meg / 15 Comments

Hot chocolate

Okay, I’ll admit it — I have a little blizzard envy.

With record snow falling in the Northeast, I’ve been following the snowfall and clipper activity with the intensity of a true weather junkie. Here south of Washington, D.C., we’ve gotten nothing but cold rain and dreariness.

As a kid, word of an approaching snowstorm was an excuse to stay up late watching for your school district — C’mon, Charles County; c’mon, Charles County — to scroll across the ticker tape on the nightly news. “CLOSED” meant big breakfasts with Dad, staying in our pajamas and snowball fights with our family dog.

Idyllic, indeed . . . and decades ago. Though I’m far removed from those carefree days, I can’t help remembering the snow days of my youth: long, languorous things filled with hot chocolate and unlimited Nickelodeon and Uno with my sister. Definitely not the harsh reality of snow as an adult.

Which sucks. Generally speaking.

Though snow is dangerous and messy, scary and intimidating, there is a beauty and simplicity in being stuck indoors with hot tea, a fat novel and your significant other curled up at your side. Nothing to do, nowhere to go . . . just a cozy day indoors watching the fat flakes fall. You know, until you have to go out and shovel.

I think some of the romance is tied to the idea of taking a break from reality . . . this unexpected detour in an otherwise planned set of events. Finding yourself at home making breakfast instead of wedged at your desk is a wonderful change, indeed, and sleeping late on a Wednesday feels positively luxurious. For as much as I love schedules and to-do lists, color-coded calendars and plans, sometimes I need to be shoved out of my routines.

Snow does that. Maybe not three feet of snow — Boston, I feel for you — but . . . a few inches? Enough to change up the day? Well.

I’m being snow-fully romantic, I know . . . in fact, just a few weeks ago, I complained about the cold and how being pregnant with ice on the ground makes me exceptionally nervous. If I fall, I’m falling for two.

But I can’t keep out winter with full-body bubble wrap. All I can do is be careful — and roll with whatever Mother Nature throws our way.

Which, thankfully, hasn’t been much. (But I would take a little.)

If you’re home, stay safe — and have some cocoa for me.


Snowpocalypse: The extended version

/ Meg / 16 Comments

So that little storm we had back in December, the one we called the “snowpocalypse” and panicked over just before Christmas?

That blip had nothing on this weekend.

Yes, friends, I’m snowed in again — for the third time this winter. Maryland isn’t exactly known for its crazy seasonal shifts, but this winter has brought more than 44 inches of snow to our region. And this snowpocalypse dumped 22 inches of the fluffy stuff on our cars, yards and weekend plans, basically “paralyzing” the Washington, D.C., region through tomorrow.

Everyone is milling about now, grabbing shovels and rock salt and trying to dig out. My sister, Dad and I attacked the driveway yesterday afternoon — just before another six or seven more inches fell — to try and clear up what we could, but the rest had to be done today.

At least the sun is shining — and those blue skies are a really welcome sight! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much snow in my life, and I traipsed through tons of it to grab some photos and, you know, clear a path for us to actually leave the house. At some point. (Hopefully soon.)

Every muscle in my arms and back is aching, but I’m ignoring that and focusing instead on the fact that my “snow workout” means I won’t have to do any other running or exercising for a few days.

Or a week. Hard to say, really . . . I mean, that was a serious lot of shoveling! Heavy! Cold!

And I’m going to go make some cupcakes as a reward for all my hard work. (Pink, with pink frosting. I’m loving it!)