Snow!

Ben's months of prayers were finally answered when it started snowing yesterday. Of course, watching it fall from the sky, he immediately asked when we could make a snowman. I'm sure our neighbors wouldn't have minded our collecting all the snow from their property in order to construct a single snowman, but fortunately Ben settled for rolling snowballs around the yard. I kept waiting for him to pelt Ian with one (or vice versa), but to no avail. Maybe next time.

Even an inch of snow can be crippling here. In Michigan, crews salt the roads like fast food joints salt their fries. Salt is ubiquitous and plentiful. It supports the automotive industry by rusting through metal and necessitating new car purchases. In DC, however, real estate is far too precious to waste under an enormous salt dome, and snowstorms are so infrequent that the city usually chooses to shut down rather than put up a fight. Government workers are fond of their numerous holidays, and one or two snow days during the winter are seen as an entitlement. Lobbyists for digital cable providers probably make a flurry of calls (Ha!) to Capitol Hill the night before inclement weather is predicted to arrive, urging them to shut the government down. Especially during sweeps week.

As luck would have it, we were out beyond the beltway when the snow started falling, so we got to see how drivers here react to slick roads and ice-encrusted wipers. And let me tell you, most do not react well. Michiganders are far from universally capable, but aside from a few twits who spend the warmer months forgetting what it's like to have no stopping power, the majority are passably competent. Here in DC, however, a good number think that if you're having trouble gathering forward momentum because a wheel is spinning on ice, the obvious solution is to spin that wheel faster. I saw a BMW apparently built before traction control came standard demonstrating that water can indeed go directly from ice to steam if you simply hit 5,000 rpm. Meanwhile, my midwestern experience and Subaru all-wheel-drive crept past them all, the patient tortoise to their overeager hare. A Camaro driver looked dumbfounded and bitter. Of course, I suppose that describes most Camaro drivers, regardless of road conditions.