Record snowfall closes schools, leaves roads treacherous
December 21, 2009
As the region continued to emerge from the weekend's record December snowstorm, much of Anne Arundel County remained shut down today. Public schools, Anne Arundel Community College and courthouses were closed. City and county government opened late this morning,
and most federal workers were excused from going to the office. And plowing crews struggled to clear roadways. "I would urge county residents to exercise caution," County Executive John R. Leopold said this morning. "The roads are still treacherous." Leopold said it could take until tomorrow night before all residential streets are passable. He said the county has 300 people and 200 trucks working 12-hour shifts to clear the roads. "We're doing everything we can," he said. As Saturday's snowy whiteout gave way to a sun-sparkled world yesterday morning, locals began the next stage of coping with the biggest snowstorm in years: digging out. Plows scraped major roads while, up and down residential streets, families armed with snow gear cleared cars, driveways and walkways, tossing showers of powder into the air. Elisabeth Hulette, Staff Writer, The Annapolis Capital______________________________________________
It is one of those mysteries...how do these little critters survive the great outdoors, especially when everything gets covered with a beach-thick blanket of snow. As a follow up to the Finding Neverland fauna inventory,
the principals right after our record snowfall were: the Gray Squirrel and Black Squirrel (1), Blue Jay, House Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco. I heard a crow calling from the junipers in the next door neighbor's yard (2), and caught glimpses of one flying far off in the sky beyond our backyard fence. Two weekends before, we had a little bit of snow fall, and a Carolina Wren picking at our suet feeder (note the feeder on the right of the pole in the photograph to the left). The birds seem to come in waves, leaving the feeder alone most of the day. The squirrel dig down into the the snow, and peak out and about...constantly being vigilant. Like in summer, the messy blue jays are a part of the food cycle for the squirrels, scattering seeds from the feeder above down to the snow below where the ground feeders find them and feast.It was a good weekend for being buttoned down in our house. The snow just kept falling and falling - it started around 7:00 Friday evening right as we got back home after finishing Christmas shopping, was more than a blanket by Saturday morning, and continued to come down throughout the rest of the day. Even after digging out the
front door landing and rock step walk down our front yard, and clearing off the cars parked on the street on Saturday, it was more than worth the money to pay four fellows who knocked on the door Sunday morning for a half hour of their services clearing off the drive way and sidewalks, while I again cleaned the snow off of the cars. Darrel - who also has a lawn business in summer - his son Darrel, his brother, and another fellow named Larry (unlike the the three brothers from the Newhart television show)(3), said I was the first customer of the day. It is funny how a number of my neighbors complimented me later about the time I saved compared to what they were then facing after having themselves turned down the crew earlier....and asking how much I had paid....and after barely making a dent in their own piles of snow, commenting that they would catch the crew the next time they came around.______________________________________________
(1) The Black Squirrel can be traced back to 18 Canadian squirrels that were released at the National Zoo during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. For more information, see the Washington Post article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/18/AR2005051802251.html
(2) A couple of months ago while we had a work team retreat in western Maryland. Rick, one of my co-workers, has been a birder since 7, so we agreed to show up at the retreat with binoculars and go birding. After arriving and having dinner, we planned to get up early for a bird "watching" walk.
Early morning rendezvous'd
and so learn'd
bird watching is more about listening
than looking
(3) The Darrel's and Larry were as unlike the three brothers Larry and Darrel's from the Newhart Show, as a sitcom set in rural New England Vermont is from real-world Mid-Atlantic Maryland on a snowy weekend in December. Hard work, cash payment, and a satisfied patron with a cleared driveway and sidewalk, with not a care for the rest of the day. For a taste of the fictional Vermont Larry and Darrel's, go to the link at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg
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