If you've been paying any sort of attention to the national news, you might have noticed that the Northeast is getting slammed by Blizzard Nemo...or Charlotte. It depends on what source you're going from. As a CT resident, we are only on our third "storm" of the year, so we're calling this one Charlotte. According to one of the local news station's Facebook pages:
Hello everyone, WFSB News Director here...To answer the 'name' question.... WFSB has been naming winter storms for several decades-so far back our station call letters were WTIC! In the 1970's we began naming storms. It's been a tradition since then. Remember Blizzard Larry folks have been talking about all week? We named that. But, there's a method to to the madness... Let me explain: We only name storms capable of 1/4 inch of ice or 6+ inches of snow. Last year, The Weather Channel announced they'd begin naming storms. We had great (heated) internal debate about what that meant for us. Short answer: nothing. In the end with the support of our loyal viewers, we decided that we would not stop what we'd done for so long- its just part of who we are. And, that's how we came to Charlotte. Thanks everyone - stay safe! Best, Dana Neves
Anyway, it's snowing outside. We are apparently supposed to get a lot of it. I am hoping we don't lose power, because then it's going to get AWFULLY cozy at my parents' house, where they have a generator and two wood stoves. And possibly two cats, two dogs, and six adults.
I have lived in New England most of my life, so I feel confident in saying that snow is highly over-rated. It's very pretty right around Christmas, and that's about it. As a student, of course, snow days were awesome, and you didn't really think about those days at the end of the year, because your parents might let you stay home anyway. As a teacher, I don't get to stay home. We've lost six days this year between Snow and Sandy, which means my one February "vacation" day just disappeared. Any more and I start to lose April. (Yes, I know teachers have it "made" with our snow days and our summers off. Please, allow your employer to constantly change when your vacation can be, and then tell me you're pleased as punch.) (Addendum: teaching post for another day.)
But back to the snow.
We are making the most of this day. We have slept in, we have finished watching Arrested Development and moved on to season six of The West Wing. We are debating when to go out to do Round One of the shoveling. I did get two loads of laundry done; I would like that on the record. I actually tried to do some serious work, but apparently, all the other teachers in the state had the same idea, and I found myself with no work to review.
To those of you in the area, be safe. Stay inside. Find your pets and make sure they stay inside.
To those of you not in the area...we hate you. Just a little bit.
As a native Texan, we get all kinds of weather - even snow, from time to time. In one week, we can have lows down in the 20s and highs past 100.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't think I've every experienced l something as fundamentally powerful as a
blizzard or a hurricane. Not really.
Every time I think about it, I get this odd feeling in my gut. Not quite fear, but something very much like it. Almost, but not quite like it.
The idea of being held hostage to weather - to those primal natural forces, even in a day and age when our technology and our ability to adapt and cope to fantastic environments and incredible circumstances - we can still be trapped by, controlled by, and even killed by the same natural events that our ancient ancestors faced and feared.
I hope your weather lets up soon. I'd send some of our winter heat (mid 80's last week), but it seems to expire somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon line.
/alan