Monday, February 8, 2010

Dazzle


Thirteenth Street NE where it crosses Tenneessee, just north of Constitution Avenue, at 10 a.m. yesterday.

The sunshine yesterday turned the landscape into an aqua-white, sparkling, sculptural environment, the likes of which I have never seen since I've been here. Snow looks white, but in sunlight, it's aqua. I checked even without my sunglasses (that was painful!) to make sure it wasn't the shades. Nope. Snow in sunlight is aqua.

I didn't notice anyone's mood heading south yesterday. Why is it that I continually forget how intrepid DC citizens are? They play the hand they are dealt, always, even when they don't like it. I saw a few people driving around, perhaps just to show that they could. Or maybe they're so used to driving around that they couldn't stand to let the whole day pass without getting behind the wheel.

A client and her husband built a gigantic, authentic igloo in Lincoln Park that I'm going to go take pictures of in a minute. How cool is that? Somehow they had on hand a saw that cuts snow, at an angle, so the blocks fit together perfectly, creating igloo structural integrity. Of course such a thing has to exist, but I'd never thought about it before.

I had a busy day working with shoulders aching from all the shoveling and igloo building, a great day. Today will be just as busy. The mood in the house here on Tennessee remains convivial. The camaraderie continues! Sweet.


Our front yard yesterday a.m.

20 comments:

ellen abbott said...

Fun!

Ptolemy said...

I was thinking that "Dazzle" would be an excellent dog name... ;-)

Reya Mellicker said...

For the right dog, definitely!

Whitney Lee said...

That's great! It's mostly melted here - at least off the trees and the roads. Have fun at the igloo:)

Mrsupole said...

Beautiful white wonderland. I am glad that you are enjoying it instead of freaking out over it. Nature is wonderful in all her glory and to live through an historical storm is pretty good too.

Can't wait to see the igloo pic.

Stay warm and bundled up.

God bless.

Chris Wolf said...

YES! Your backyard looks like mine- for a little while anyway! Also on my list of things to do indoors is find music I've never heard before. A new station, YouTube, iTunes, playing old albums of my roommates', and looking through old photographs.
I've also been known to clean the junk drawer, and bake homemade bread! Some of these days make me so happy, have a great day.

Carolyn said...

There is always a silver lining!
Enjoy and smiles

Linda Sue said...

Whoa! You got SO dumped on! It is astonishing and very pretty! As long as it goes away as quickly as it arrived...We had a winter much like yours last year - that will do for awhile and I am enjoying our freaky warm weather right now- Birds, buds and sun! WOW! Have some ginger tea and some jook- you will make it through the cold!
Cheers!

Reya Mellicker said...

The answer is: because snow absorbs red light, reflecting back more green and blue.

One mystery solved!

Barry said...

I kept thinking, what is it about the snow in Washington that makes it look so beautiful?

Then I realized, the first thing the snow crews do here in Toronto is dump a mixture of salt and gravel on the roads.

The gravel turns everything brown and dirty, but does make the road less slippery.

Athough not nearly as picturesque.

Tom said...

that's a big pile of snow. And more to come, we are expecting 12 to 14 inches. Good luck getting around, i for one can already feel my back aching from all the shoveling.

Steve Reed said...

The blue of the sky and the white of the snow are really remarkable together, aren't they? Particularly when there's SO MUCH snow! (Our snowfall was not as impressive!)

I wonder how the Eskimos built igloos before there were saws to cut at an angle?? :)

Nancy said...

Just catching up on my blog reading - my youngest was home for the weekend - and wondered about you as we heard about the massive storm heading you way. Glad to see you did just fine and even flourished in all that white stuff! Beautiful pictures!

tut-tut said...

When it snows here, it is truly amazing how bright everything is. I had forgotten that. An interesting shake of the snow globe.

Camaraderie is a good thing!

steven said...

reya i am so happy for you and all your friends!!! so happy yes i am!!! steven

Meri said...

Walking in a winter wonderland. . .

Janelle said...

too too too beautiful to behold. love it!!!!! xxx j

Kerry said...

I am really jealous of your snow. The beauty and disruption of it all. I'll be back to see that igloo.

Ronda Laveen said...

Yep, I'll bet everyone is achy and sore after all the activities they're not used to doing. Even just sitting around.

Looking forward to the igloo. And I love the idea that the snow looks blue because it absorbs red light. What validation to light rays this is.

Merle Sneed said...

That is a lot of snow. It will do the Earth are Washington a lot of good later this year, but for now...it is a lot of now.