The weatherman said it would snow on December 19th. He said there might be as much as 16 inches (40 cm.) but I didn’t believe him. Charlottesville snow doesn’t usually amount to much,though warnings are frequently given.
At 4 p.m. that Friday afternoon, the first flakes fell. All over Facebook, pictures were posted and excitement reigned. The weather forecasters were right. Next morning, I went intrepidly out to record the historic “Biggest December Snowfall Since 1969” even before it had stopped.
My tenants – one shovel and a bucket between them – were hard at work.
Progress had already been made
though the task was daunting.
All up and down the street other intrepid snow-shovelers toiled.
Few other creatures were stirring
except those who had four wheel drive cars they could, at last, prove were necessary -- and a few using alternative means of transportation.
It was a true “Winter Wonderland” as the other, even older, song says.
We gathered at a neighbor’s Sunday evening for an impromptu “post-snow shovelling, early winter solstice” party.
(Jeanne was kind enough to invite me, too, although I had only recorded others’ labor.)
The snow had stopped about 5 p.m. Saturday. The official record was 19.5 inches (49 cm) though most people, in forgivable exaggeration, talked about “2 feet of snow.” Aside from being tired, my neighbors and I were all fine. We live on a main road that leads to a major hospital, so one of the few plows the city owns had been our constant companion all weekend. Our heat, light and cable TV were all in perfect working order.
Over the next few days, we heard of other friends – a few living not far from our street– who had less pleasant stories to tell. Some had not gotten home from work until about midnight on Friday. One or two had not made it home at all. Many cars were abandoned by people who had gotten stuck. All cars behind them had nowhere to go and the Highway Patrol and snow plows had a hard time getting through. One friend spent the night in a fire station just a few miles from home. Another had no heat, light or water for 3 days.
The University opened its main Fitness Center as a shelter for its maintenance workers and about 50 hapless undergraduates who hadn’t been able to leave campus before all forms of transportation shut down.
No shopping was done on that last weekend before Christmas in Charlottesville.
Public transport wasn’t fully operational for 5 or 6 days.
We learned that White Christmases are only romantic and fun in places where towns have enough snow plows and cars have snow tires.
By Christmas Eve everyone was mobile again, though there was still snow on the ground. The new storm that threatened on Christmas Day brought only rain.
We’ll be boring our out of state friends for years with our snow stories from Christmas 09. Dreams of a White Christmas may reappear. But moderate ones. Just an inch or so of snow. Enough to make it pretty. We’re not greedy. Send the rest to Buffalo and Minneapolis. They know what to do with it.
Five days later.
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