Such a pretty mess...

You'd think that the D.C. public schools would be closed this once, as a bit of snow did actually fall yesterday, before today's big one, and weather reporting has become much more accurate since the 1980s, when I distinctly remember a forecaster saying that the area would get a dusting of snow, and a few inches came. Today's snow is not only a half foot, but that wind is whipping it around, making it hard to see when walking/driving. But, in the meantime, it sure is making things pretty...

The D.C. schools' being open might not be so bad, if the responsibility for clearing snow off sidewalks belonged to the D.C. government, and not to landowners, because they can be lackadaisical about cleaning off snow (and this in commercial districts of the city), making getting off the bus, subway, out of a car, or simply walking down the street hazardous endeavors.

In any case, all this dry fluffy stuff, while fun for kids, is work for me, so I'm trying to stave off thoughts of the shoveling that I'll be doing in a few hours. Makes me wish I had a dog trained to follow this unusual command apres snow...

What--no white Christmas?

The adorable little snowflakes that plinked down last night were, admittedly, a lovely distraction, at least once I got off the road. (Hmm, how do folks not realize to slow down in blowing snow? Thankfully, it didn't last long, but still.)


Sadly, today's wind was enough to blow much of that little bit of snow away, although there was still a bit on some plants close to home, such as this beauty:



That (ill?) wind, however, apparently blew the wind off some lovely winterberry plants, which I am dying to see covered with snow, as they are the only deciduous holly plants--that's right, their leaves drop off in the fall, leaving clusters of beautiful red berries on the stalks, for people to view and birds to eat.

The beauty below, a winterberry, is showing off, as its leaves have dropped, so those berries seem almost huddled together--



Hope there's a chance of another dusting before Christmas. It would do Washington's landscape a world of good!

(The above winterberry photo is from Oikos Tree Crops.)