I was not expecting the office to close at 2 o’clock today. That’s just not the sort of thing that’s done. And when I pulled out of the parking lot at roughly 2:15 and hit the highway, I thought to myself, ‘This doesn’t seem so bad.” The drive to Mason-Dixon Line was… well, it was … Continue reading Half a Snow Day
Tag: weather
There are things you don’t want to feel while driving. Your car, moving 60 miles an hour, shoved about three feet to the left is one of those things. The commute home wasn’t bad. At least in the Baltimore-York corridor, the Great Bomb Cyclone Blizzard of 2018 was a lot of sound and fury, signifying … Continue reading The Great Bomb Cyclone of 2018
You might have heard, the East Coast has been blanketed by a massive snow storm since yesterday. As I write this, despite the insistence of my phone that current weather conditions are “Fog,” snow still falls on Pennsylvania. There’s roughly 20 inches of snow on the ground, possibly more. The office closed yesterday at 3 … Continue reading Dispatches from Narnia
Today I took a nap. That was not in the day’s plan. The day’s plan included going to work. Unfortunately, the weather and MTA Maryland had different ideas in mind. In the mornings, when I drive to work, I reach an intersection where I have a choice to make. Go left, and I get on … Continue reading On Heavy Rain and Transit Nightmares
It is official. I am tired of winter. A record-setting snowfall fell overnight Wednesday, between seven-and-a-half and eight inches. My drive home Wednesday night from the office was frought with peril; it was raining when I left the office, sleeting when I reached the interstate, snowing when I reached the Owings Mills Expressway, blizzard conditions … Continue reading On Wishing For Winter’s End
The world is strangely silent tonight. Despite a main highway, there’s been little traffic, and not just because of the holiday. The world is taking a breath as a winter storm moves in. Snow began falling a little while ago. The back walk, which had been cleared since the last snowfall, now has a quarter … Continue reading On the Silence of Winter
Early last week, I was invited to spend Christmas with my sister, brother-in-law, and two-year-old niece in Raleigh. I was sorely tempted, weighed the possibilities in my mind, and decided that, yes, I would go to Raleigh for the holiday. And then, I noticed the weather forecast. 50% chance of no snowfall at all Christmas … Continue reading On the Christmas Holiday, Snowfall, Doctor Who, and the Like
On a day like today, with the sky overcast and rain falling, hitting the sixth floor glass and running in streaks downward, this song by the Beatles is completely appropriate: If the rain comes they run and hide their heads They might as well be dead If the rain comes, if the rain comes When the sun shines they slip into the shade (When the sun shines down) And sip their lemonade (When the sun shines down) When the sun shines, when the sun shines Rain, I don't mind Shine, the weather's fine I can show you that when it starts to rain (When the rain comes down) Everything's the same (When the rain comes down) I can show you, I can show you Rain, I don't mind Shine, the weather's fine Can you hear me that when it rains and shines (When it rains and shines) It's just a state of mind? (When it rains and shines) Can you hear me, can you hear me? sdaeh rieht edih dna nur yeht semoc niar eht fI (Rain) niaR … Continue reading On Rainfall Against the Office Glass
The four feet of snow that fell during Blizzardammerung and its kissing cousin Blizzardammerung II linger on the Maryland landscape like a festering malignancy. I look out at the frozen wastes from my sixth floor office, and I think I should elk and moose wandering the glacier that now lays across the hills and dales … Continue reading On Maryland Transit Suckitude
I dream of a day when the glaciers of Maryland will be no more. I dream of a day when birds are in the air, when plants break the soil, when flowers bloom. I dream of a day when a warm sun beats down on verdant fields of green. I dream of a day when … Continue reading On a Winter Lament
On Friday, the world knew, an apocalyptic snowstorm was coming. It was coming up the jet stream, from the south. We could see fifteen inches, twenty-four inches, perhaps even forty inches of snow. A winter storm warning was issued from 10 am Friday to 10 pm Saturday. Some thought the office would be closed on … Continue reading On Blizzardammerung
Today, it felt like spring. No, it wasn’t as warm as springtime often is. No, there were still mounds of snow in parking lots and a glaze of ice on the sidewalks. No, the sun was still far too low in the sky, and the clouds shifted awkwardly throughout the day. And yet! After weeks … Continue reading On Signs of a False Spring