Snow is the topic of the day where I am. The reason is obvious enough if you look at the weather forecast. Aside from a 36-hour break at midweek, we can expect snow all week long, off and on from Sunday night until Friday afternoon. It will be a good week to stay home, for anyone who can. Of course, we don’t really know the weather five days in advance, but the possibility of a very snowy week has people making preparations today. I have already completed the errands I had planned for tomorrow. I haven’t seen any supermarket shelves this afternoon, but it seems likely enough that the displays of bread, milk, peanut butter, and eggs are visibly depleted by now.
Snow can be a major inconvenience even without a major storm. Where I sit I can expect to be on the edge of a classic northeaster that poses a greater threat to points from central New Jersey to central Maine. Here that storm may be just the third of five snow events in the span of a week. It is the continuing pattern of snow that makes it such a bother. There is a slight chance I could be stuck in place for the entire work week. In southern Pennsylvania, that is such an unfamiliar scenario that I have to stop and think carefully about my contingency plans. I am not likely to lose power but I will be running the dishwasher today instead of waiting for tomorrow, just as a precaution. The uncertainty alone, and affecting so many people, is enough to slow things down.
