The Storm Before the Calm

Snow is falling again, this time the front end of a "monster" snow storm predicted to "dump twenty to thirty inches" throughout the rest of today and tomorrow. The weathermen have been talking about this storm for days, and I, for one, was captivated by the increasingly loud drumbeat of anticipation.

Usually we don't get much snow, so it's a big event when it comes. But this year we've already had the big snow of December 19 (about 14" at our house) and the surprise snow we just had (5" at our house), and now comes this whopper. It's too exciting for those of us who love to watch the snow gently transform the world into a quieter and more beautiful place.

But before we enjoy that blissful transformation, we have to make sure we will survive it in style. In our household that meant making sure the food basics were stocked up: bagels, peanut butter, and Oreos for Paul; coffee, chocolate and wine for me and Ben. Then for entertainment we picked up some movies from the county library, books from the school library and Amazon, and a new jig saw puzzle. And finally, something useful; paint for the living room so we can get that project underway while the snow falls.

It's a good thing we did our food shopping early since there was a big run on the stores. I really wanted to get a few Skinny Cow fudge bars in the house, but was stopped by the amazingly full parking lots at the area stores....

...and the reports of empty shelves.


This photo is from the WTOP.com web site and is a pictorial confirmation of what I've heard from people who actually ventured into stores last night and this morning.

My car is parked down the driveway so I won't have so far to dig out. You can see how much snow we still have on the ground from the earlier storms. With all our preparations plus my quilt project, I'm set to stay put for a few days. I'm crossing my fingers that the electricity holds out!