The Christmas Spirit

This past weekend the tristate area was hammered with a snowstorm that people will be telling their grandchildren about.  Delaware had 17 inches dumped in certain areas, while Philadelphia was bludgeoned with a little over 2 feet!  State of Emergencies were called and businesses were closed.  The roads were a dangerous place and no matter how fast and hard the Department of Transportation put salt and the plows to the ground there was no way they could keep up.  This snowstorm was the largest this area has had since the mid 1990s and it showed both on the ground and in people’s mentality towards it. 

                Every year when a “big” snowstorm is announced to be heading in a particular direction people immediately scamper to the local supermarket and convenience store and buy  enough eggs, milk and bread to last them through the week just so they don’t have to venture into the cold abyss that is sure to await them the next day.  This is the first of many chaotic events that precedes a snowstorm.  People also flock to gas stations to fill up.  Even though they just went to the grocery store to prevent having to leave the house for the next week. Hmmm. 

                This past Saturday, the weatherman predicted a massive storm heading to the east coast, the biggest one in years.  Lo and behold they were right.  (It has to happen occasionally)  As I looked outside from by loft window I saw a good 6 inches of snow already on the ground and it was merely 10 in the morning.  This was the beginning of the storm

Image via Wikipedia

and there was no way people were going to have the urge to drive in this stuff, and even if they did I’m not sure of too many cars that might be capable of driving in it.  As always my curiosity wanted to see what other people were doing in this weather , so instead of bundling up making some hot chocolate and watching the movie marathon that was inevitably on cable,  I put on some sneakers, track pants, baseball cap and about 8 long sleeve shirts and walked outside.  Since there is a convenience store across the road from me I decided to check the roads while walking to get my breakfast.   Although bad, the roads seemed oddly drivable to me and gave me the urge to take a spin somewhere instead of being entrapped in my apt all day.  So I grabbed my breakfast, made the mile trek back home and grabbed the key to my Volkswagen beetle.