mondhasen: (Eisbär)
It's all well and good to think it funny that a couple of inches of snow can be so devastating to a city like Atlanta, but one might want to consider the physics and events involved. Compressing snow on freezing pavement gives you ice. Cars stuck on icy pavement block snow/ice treating vehicles. Everyone exiting work and school simultaneously onto icy pavement... well, you get the picture. Yes, add too this the inexperience of piloting one's vehicle in unfamiliar conditions. Disaster.

In our infamous Blizzard of '78 the same deal happened in Rhode Island, only in lots deeper snow: everyone let out of work and school at the same time and the roads became clogged and impassable to the clean-up crews. Of course, cars were buried in snow during this, not just idling on ice. The traffic was blocked-up for days for tens and tens of miles.

I always tell the family to watch the intersections because that is where the ice forms from slipping or stopped, idling cars. Also, I try to remember the warning "Bridges Freeze First" due to their being suspended in frigid air.

I would have had insufferable anxiety were I stuck in that mess.

Maugre

Feb. 8th, 2013 10:37 pm
mondhasen: (Default)
 The wind is rushing through the trees, sounding like a freight train. We've a foot or more of snow on the ground, and it just keeps falling. The power has blinked several times so I've run the heat up to an unprecedented 68°F so that in case we lose electricity the house may stay somewhat warm until it is restored. Nemo is, as predicted, a massive storm. Locals compare this to the  "Blizzard of 1978:" I prefer to remember our 1968 blizzard instead as it sounded just like this one does!

In 1968 I had a poetry assignment where we had to assemble anthologies of favorite poets' works. Among my choices was Emerson's The Snow-Storm. It's a pretty piece, and it's where I first encountered the word maugre. I never use the word, but I remember Emerson's farmer on those rare occasions I see it in print. I wish I still had that folder I submitted: I drew a nice picture to go with the poem. 

Maybe I can post some snow pics tomorrow, and catch up on reading friends' journals. That will be after we shovel out the anticipated 24" of snow.

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mondhasen

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