Good Morning on December 20th - reporting from somewhere around two feet of snow! I have been in Vermont for plenty of big storms. It seems that almost every truck has a snow plow attached -- and as soon as the snow begins, they are everywhere! Also -- snowblower machines (the riding models) are busily clearing sidewalks and driveways. Everyone enjoys the beautiful snow -- and keeps on with their daily lives!
NOT SO in the mid-Atlantic. For example -- yesterday's storm dropped over twice as much snow as we got in ALL of 2008. People do NOT invest in snow-removal equipment. People do not learn to drive, as teenagers, preparing to drive on snow and ice. People go for years without encountering "black ice" (invisible sheen of ice on black pavement - that is deadly for walking and/or driving).
Schools panic and close at "snow warnings". And use up their "snow days". Then they stay open on dangerous snow days. Sometimes - closing, without notice, in early afternoon - leaving working parents with no idea that their children have been sent out in a storm, to find their homes locked and empty.
Good judgement, and experience, is in short supply.
Consequently -- yesterday - many people ventured out in their cars -- only to have their cars get stuck somewhere. The cars were abandoned - and - most of the people rescued and taken SOMEWHERE.
So far - our area STILL has electricity. Although, on the nightly national news last night -- they reported that hundreds of thousands of homes were without power. YIKES! Sick people. People with new babies. This is NOT GOOD. I think we need better ways of storing energy. End of sermon.
