FEB-B-5
I’M STILL HOMEBOUND!
I HAVE TRIED SHOVELING OUT AGAIN AND
ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOWSHOEING,
WHILE DOING MINIMAL HOUSEHOLD CHORES
February 18, 2003
I had called Jack Snoeyink last night to try to find out what were his plans. He had an NSF meeting here in Washington, and all of the government and educational institutions have got the day off again. No schools anywhere near \Washington have any classes open and all government facilities are closed because of the snowstorm, so I do not know whether he will still be coming as scheduled at 6:00 PM, especially since DCA is only now opening up and all the others have been shut down for the same reasons. This time it was real snow and not just the threat of a snowstorm that shut down Washington for several days.
I went out to try again to clear a path to the circle where my Bronco is hiding under about three feet of sow. There is no way it can be out of my circle, and once out, it would not get back in until the spring that, since the snow is still very deep. I had once again made the effort with a snow shovel—my second one this time, since the heavy snow broke my shovel yesterday. I have the backup shovel with which I was able to get the last of the snow down to at least a walkway to the Bronco, but since neither I nor the Bronco is going anywhere, it seemed futile to try to make such plans. I had started to attempt a snow shoe excursion, and the crusted two and a half feet of snow would have been ideal for that, but I cannot figure out the bindings, so that the big Michigan style snow shoes are ripped off my feet at each step—not a plus when I cannot keep the snowshoes on my feet and they are tripping me into the heavy deep snow. Ah, well, they will look good as a mantelpiece decoration, having been used only once, back in the blizzard of ’03.
I have finally got myself into and through several small projects that simply needed a day at home to accomplish, such as compiling my income tax information for 2002’s return and trying to complete one of several writing projects that are past due. I should also try to update the CV and bibliography, for which the web page was ideally designed, but which itself has not got a facelift updating since it was put together. But, this “downtime” should be ideal for that kind of effort, if I can stay awake after being outside and getting myself stiff and sore from pulling off repeated shoveling episodes. What I have been doing is eating what food stocks I had in the house (rather redundantly it turns out, so I am consuming stuff that would otherwise have to be thrown out) and going to bed early since it is easier than staying up to find more projects to do.
THE STORM HAS MOVED ON, DUMPING ON NEW ENGLAND
WHATEVER IT HAD LEFT OVER FROM THE HUGE SNOWFALL
IT LEFT ON ME HERE AT MARYLAND
I presume this has been as good a time as any for the snowstorm to hit DC. For my part, I had no where to go, nor any urgent meetings in Washington to attend (although the prolonged stay at home has made me think of places I should be soon—like the grocery store and the post office, not to mention my presentation on the Lingshed trek tomorrow night.) It has also hit at the Annual Presidents’ Day holiday, so no one missed work on the long weekend if they did go back to work today, as almost no one has. And it came to me at a time when I should do several things at home—like compile taxes; write past due papers and update the long-fallow home page and CV. But, if there were a whole string of things to be accomplished on a deadline or two (as it is affecting some people who are in a hectic point in their lives in which they are moving and starting up a new career in a new program) it would have derailed everything in a big way. For my part, I could simply go to bed and let it snow, and the Bronco is frozen in its position for the next week. I may be able to host Jack Snoeyink if he comes this way, and we can get around by Metro, even to the Lingshed presentation I should still be scheduled to give tomorrow. But, for the engagements that I have made for later in the month and with a lot of travel forthcoming, it is better now than then.