Examination Termination

Yay! Finals are finished. I just noticed that it's been two weeks since our last burst of posts, and its been getting too quite around here. The past two weeks have been filled with my preparation and completion of four exams and a paper. Kate has been trying to stay clear and cheer me on, with the special assistance of providing me with hot tea as I needed it during my study sessions. Many thanks to her for the little pleasures that make exams endurable.

For those of you that have not seen the news, our last little post about "snow" has just been blown out of the water by the current "snowpocalypse"/"snow-urricane" or blizzard hitting DC as I type. The snow has been so heavy that the Metro, or subway, has been shutdown in the above ground areas. As the press release stated, the snow is high enough to cover the electrified 3rd rail, or 8 inches for those counting at home. The prediction is for 1-2' for the weekend. Yes, I used the marker for feet, not inches. This morning I felt like I was living in a snow globe. After venturing forth into the snowy madness, Kate and I have concluded that we, in fact, live in a snow-cone machine.

Pictures will be forthcoming after the conclusion of the snowfall, and don't worry, I made a snow angel, and we threw our obligatory one snowball apiece. Our friend Marie made a snow-Vulcan out in VA, we hear, and she is working on a snowman.

Last night Kate and I took pictures of all three branches of government and their decorations (not surprisingly, the Supreme Court had nothing) for Christmas. On our way home, Kate and I saw the Grey Train! It was just as strange the second time.

For now, we continue to watch the snowfall out our large windows and we think of you all out there. Our recommendation is to try out the homemade marshmallows by either Alton Brown or the easier, but less tasty one from the food network magazine. Toss 'em in hot chocolate or do like we will later today, make s'mores.

'til next time,
-Pete

P.S. Weather channel says its 28 F but feels like 13 F.

Dark When The Snow Falls

Well, we've had our first real sign of winter in the big frozen north land. This morning we woke up to see heavy snow falling outside our window, and it really hasn't quit since! It's definitely lighter now, but we're watching football anyway, so it's ok. ;) (Roll Tide!)

We didn't get out much to enjoy it today, as Pete was studying and I'm still not up to full mobility after hurting my knee last week, but I did take a few pictures on our street. It's still crazy to us how a snowfall doesn't shut down the entire city! People were still out today, walking and driving around to get their Christmas shopping done! I hear that sometimes a heavy snowfall will slow things down, but this didn't really even stick very much- just a bit on the trees and rooftops. It was definitely pretty though, and I really enjoyed watching it fall outside our big windows all day!

Here are a few pictures for you!

Pete took this from our living room window. The place next door is a nice restaurant and bar. Obviously they weren't using their patio today.

The courtyard in our building. It was closed because of weather (not sure what that means, but whatever), so I couldn't do much except take a picture through the window. But it looks nice.

This is looking the other way out of our living room window. The freezer and trash cans go with the restaurant, and the rest of the buildings are pretty typical row houses.

I had to go out to Target this afternoon... it really wasn't as bad as I had feared it would be, for a Saturday in December. This is what we see as we're walking up the street.

Nerd alert! This is a shot of my laptop screen... the little boxes (calculator, weather, etc.) are part of a Mac program called Dashboard. It's also got a calendar and a clock. You set the weather box to your location and it shows you the forecast in your area with a picture of whatever the weather's doing. I pulled it up this morning and realized I'd never seen what it does when there's snow in the forecast! Isn't it pretty?

That's all for now. Stay warm, everybody!

(Oh, and if Rosie happens to be reading this, I hope you'll notice that my title comes from an Emmet Swimming album :) )

Snow Watch '09!

We're expecting snow tomorrow.

Depending on who you ask, the chances range from small to about a 70% chance of seeing 1 to 3 inches.

Now, in the last 4 years, we've seen maybe 2 inches of snow total, most of which was last January in Macon, so this is ridiculously exciting news for two Southern kids. I'm considering staking out a place in front of a big window somewhere and setting up an all-out Snow Watch. This big window will probably be in my living room, but hey, it's pretty comfortable there.

Earlier today, I was out doing some Christmas shopping (more on that in a minute), and stopped by Target on the way home to pick up a couple of things. We're very lucky to live 3 blocks from the only Target in the District, so we walk past it at least twice a day, it seems. I grabbed some gift-wrapping supplies, a hanger for the gorgeous wreath we got yesterday from my parents, and then headed to the grocery aisle to pick up some cereal. That's when it hit me-- the grocery section was empty! There was no frenzy for bread, milk, and beer, because the threat of 2 inches of snow won't shut down the city. What?!

Buying groceries in a reasonable amount of time before a snowstorm got me thinking about all the differences between the sunny South and our Nation's Capital... and before anybody tells me that D.C. is a Southern city, let me just say right now that it isn't. Sorry. The thing is, D.C. kind of has its own culture. Very few people are actually from D.C., so it's an interesting mix of people and backgrounds. I'm working on a post about all the various things we've had to adjust to since the move, so be on the lookout for that. However, since I've clearly been having some writer's block (it's been, what, a month since my last entry? For shame), give me a hand here. Is there anything you want to know about our life in the big city? Any difference you might wonder about? Leave a comment and let me know.

Oh, and as for Christmas shopping? I've found it- the greatest mall on earth. (Ok maybe it isn't better than the Mall of America, but I haven't been there, and besides, that's in Minnesota. Who wants to go there anyway? Eww.) The Tyson's Corner Galleria? Heaven on earth. Seriously- Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, L.L. Bean (!!!), Teavana, Sephora, Lush, CakeLove-- oh my gosh, it's amazing. Every time I turned a corner it got better! It took every ounce of my self control to leave with just the pair of boots I went to find for myself (Christmas present from my parents), a small Christmas present for Pete, and a cupcake from CakeLove, which was delicious despite being slightly squashed on the trip home. (Also, be on the lookout for an entry about all the fabulous places to acquire a gourmet cupcake up here. The world needs more fancy cupcakes, I tell you what.)

So yeah. I'm thinking of moving in to the Tyson's Corner Galleria. As I told Michelle and Pete, it was kind of a pain to get out there, but once you got settled you could live quite happily for a long time before ever needing to leave the building.

The Grey Train

Have you seen the Grey Train in the Metro?

The Grey Train,
Unannounced on the track,
As if out of the mist?

The Grey Train,
Petulantly wailing in tortured resistance as it slows down,
Headlights bright,
But with uncaring and soulless cars permanently silenced,
Silenced by the sign over the door,
"No Passengers"?

The Grey Train,
Reluctent in unsealing its taciturn maw,
Unwilling to reveal its Silent Sentinels?

Silent Sentinels,
Obsidian against their dingy, dismal, steel ferry,
Gold badges glinting against the silvery prisoners within,
Charcoal shotguns at the ready?

Still Sentinels,
Standing granite as another prisoner,
Shimmering and shuddering,
Is collected from the end of the platform?

Mute Sentinels,
Their task done,
Retreat into that somber embrace,
The leaden, voiceless lips of their ashen bearer?

The Grey Train,
Vanishing down the tunnel,
Back into its abyssal haze?

Have you seen the Grey Train in the Metro?

The Grey Train,
With shining metal carts coldly lining the sides within,
Prisoners shrouded in feeble light,
Light rebuked by opalescent windows,
Dead as an old man's eyes,
Blind with age?

-Pete