Getting Ready To Shelter In Place

Posted on February 5, 2010

(Photo by The Merry Widow)

A huge snowstorm is headed our way today.

We've been advised to be prepared to shelter in place for three days.

Apparently residents in the D.C. area are taking the warning seriously. Last night, one grocery store in Washington, D.C., was so packed that the manager had to shut it down!

As I wrote some time back, D.C. area residents are notorious for overreacting when the forecast mentions "Snow!" This time, the panic may actually be warranted.

As a lifetime resident of the D.C. area, I've experienced the rare times when I've been snowed in for a week or two. This storm promises to be one of those cabin fever whoppers. The local news refer to this storm as a "monster storm" and an "atmospheric bomb."

We are prepared here in the AOW household. The Merry Widow and I each have our own snow shovel to use when the time to dig out arrives. Even as the snow is falling, we'll be sweeping off the front porch and Mr. AOW's four-foot-wide, thirty-feet-long wheelchair ramp. Digging out the cars, which are parked on the street as the AOW house has no driveway, will be the biggest challenge. I've learned that hard way that there's no point in keeping the cars dug out as a snowstorm progresses because the county truck will just come along and plow us back in.

Prayers, especially for no loss of electricity, are appreciated. We also covet prayers for our poor backs.

By the way, The Merry Widow took the photo in this posting is a picture of my side yard last week, when a mere 5 inches fell. The weatherman is gleefully speaking of sixteen to twenty-four inches for the coming storm, due to start dumping the white stuff on us before noon today. Just imagine what my side yard will look like this time around!

Please scroll down to the photo essay posted on February 6.

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