Blizzard Photo Album Posted on Picasa

I went out at 11AM today to enjoy the deep snow. It is just beautiful out there. I tromped over to the Patent & Trademark Office, where the snow was up to 21" deep. There were a few steps that I took here and there where I had no idea just how deep it was until I found myself up to my thighs in snow!

When I came across my favorite ZipCar (named "Dalai Lama"), I decided to have some fun and clean it off.

Then I was headed to the back entrance of my building (I was going to go in through the loading dock area instead of ruining the marble floors and carpet of the lobby) when I spied a few snow shovels propped up against a trash bin. I grabbed one and spent the next hour digging out a pedestrian path through a 4' wall of snow that was originally created by snow plows after the last snow. It was a challenge.

It was either do that or go to the gym, and I wanted to be outside in the snow, so I dug until I was done (and totally wiped out)! At one point I wasn't sure I could finish, but I wasn't going to leave it partway done. I felt like I'd burned a thousand calories by the time I was done!

When I stepped inside the loading dock area I realized my pants were frozen in places, my hair was frozen with ice where it peeked out from under my snow hat, and every piece of clothing I was wearing was pretty much soaked through and icy.

Two hours after I first went outside, I got back to my apartment, put my wet clothes in the dryer, and took a hot shower. It was a weird sensation, feeling the hot water run over my frozen skin. I heated up some chili after that and read an email from my friend Rashmi up in Maryland where there was nearly 30 inches accumulated. Her car was completely buried in the parking lot and she couldn't open her front storm door due to the big drift up against it.

This is amazing. A church in D.C. essentially collapsed under the weight of the heavy snow. The newscaster said it looked like someone had sat on it.

Nearly 200,000 people are out of power. I really feel for those folks. I've got it good up here on a high floor where I never need to run my heat because my apartment is warmed by those around it.

Here's a link to some photos on Picasa. Enjoy!

D.C. Blizzard Feb. 2010