What a winter! I remember hearing that the Farmer's Almanac said this would be a tough season, but I had no idea that it meant it would be the worst winter on record in Washington, D.C. history. I flew back early from a conference in Texas last Friday, trying to get home to the nation's capital before the blizzard hit. I was hearing reports from my neighbors that the store shelves were already bare, so I asked them to get me some milk, water and bananas. (Funny what you think you need or want in a storm.) 

I grew up in Colorado so blizzards are not that new to me. I recall that we never even had a snow day for school. But then again, we could get three feet of snow in the morning and the sun would come out that afternoon. During our late spring storms, we could even go out and snow bathe -- better to get the full tan with all the rays beaming off the snow banks. Ignorance about skin cancer was stupid bliss at the time. 

Yet, this was going to be a big storm in DC, and I couldn't wait to get outside and play in it. I woke up early last Saturday -- memories of my childhood rushing through my mind. As soon as the sun came up, I got my equipment ready: not my shovel, but my cross-country skis. They had been packed away for just this moment. With determination, I made my way through the two feet of snow that was waiting for me outside my door and then basically body surfed down my steps to make my way to the street. I strapped my skis on and made it to the main thoroughfare, Wisconsin Avenue. There were no cars around except for a few snowplows. I had not done this since the blizzard of 1997! Gliding down near empty avenues that would have been teeming with cars and people on a normal day filled me with sheer delight. Some hearty souls who were out shoveling or trying to walk, smiled and shouted out words of encouragement. I felt like I had come back to my Colorado roots.

After an hour of exploring my city on skis, I returned home and shoveled and shoveled and shoveled. One of my neighbors and I decided to do this for our other neighbors as well. I know that sounds strange, but I have always loved to shovel. It's great exercise, it's fun to be outside, and it's fulfilling to accomplish something -- a positive spin on something that could be more than tedious. I joked with my neighbors that I would work for food and they actually took me up on that -- feeding me breakfast and dinner. Not a bad deal for a few hours of work. But the spirit of helping others was the best reward.  

We are now coming into the next big snowstorm and some of the novelty of watching the snowflakes fall has worn off. The hassles of trying to just walk down a street, finding a way to get through the backyard to throw out bags of trash, watching helplessly the weight of all this white stuff on the roof, and canceling meetings and travel plans are increasing. Yet, we are so blessed. We have shelter and most of us still have electricity, heat and people around to help us out. It has been said that people plan and Mother Nature laughs. All we can do now is smile with her.