I just spent a few days in Washington, DC, visiting friends and going to a concert. My visit coincided — quite unintentionally — with the arrival of one of the heaviest snowfalls in recent memory. Here are a few photos.
The snow had just begun to fall.
My hosts' front yard was covered quickly.
The next morning drifts over 3' deep covered the lawn.
Being restless I decided to go outside a little after midnight. The stillness was wonderful, crystalline; we seldom get to experience that kind of quiet in Miami. I walked around a bit, reveling in the crisp night air, the utter serenity. The snow had finally stopped falling, leaving the black sky clear save for the stars and the billowing fog of my breath.
I know how awful and inconvenient and even dangerous this kind of weather can be. Much as with hurricanes, schools and businesses close, and there is a very real danger to life and property. And as I stood in the frigid silence I knew the morning would bring sidewalks to scrape, and cooped-up children to corral, and the reality of cold, wet clothing and creeping boredom. But at that moment there was only the night, the cold, the sky, and the snow.
Snow-buried lawn at night
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One of my favorite memories is when I lived on Army Street in San Franciso in 1972.
Middle of the night, a Volkswagen horn going "beep beep beep" then a break and "beep beep beep." I looked out of the window and it was snowing.
The driver was cool enough to let people know.
I think I read that it was the first snow fall since the 1930s.