Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

- Lyrics from “Let It Snow” by Sammy Cahn

We were all warned well in advance of the onslaught of snow that descended on us this past day and a half; a non-stop dumping of the white fluffy stuff that poured out from the heavens above.  After a while you began to wonder if the forecasters were wrong, and the thought crossed your mind:  what does one do if the flakes pile all the way to the roof?

The Times-News headline the day before the deluge put the admonition on the front page for the entire area to know and beware:  “Tri-State bracing for major storm”

Nothing to do but hunker down and try to enjoy the intrusion of all these gazillion one of a kind snowflakes that have plastered the land.  For those not needing to venture on the roads due to some essential work capacity, the storm offered an opportunity to lay back without any distraction of wanting to leave the house; a chance for kicking up your feet on the couch and cradling a good book, cuddling with your sweetheart, playing some board games.

Having the luxury of being off work for the entire weekend, it was easy to get into a mellow mind-set and hazard the blizzard, bundling up and taking a little jaunt to downtown Frostburg to check out the beginnings of the two-three foot forecast of snow.  And what else should you really expect in such a fitly named city in February, in the midst of the winter season?  Flowers blooming?  Spring awakening?  Dream on, you despisers of the winter chill; all you need to do is put on the proper garb to ward off the blustery gusts and frigid temp, and out you go to enjoy the elements.

By 9:30 p.m. the snowgods had already laid down a substantial amount of snowflakes, as you can witness by the covered cars on College Ave.

Main street was pretty much deserted, but I was a bit surprised that there was any traffic at all, given the dire warnings issued by the Maryland State Highway Administration:  “Motorists are advised NOT to drive – only in cases of extreme emergency,” as reported by Dicks Kerns in an appindie article dated 6 Feb.

Brave souls were at a favorite watering-hole:  named after Dante, chronicler of the ultimate place of Heat, the Inferno, this was a most appropriate place to be during this time of Freeze, imbibing to warm the insides against the cold outsides.

Let’s all take a moment to tip our hats to the folks who were out for hours on end throughout the night and day, clearing the roads again and again to make them passable, as much as possible.

By this afternoon the storm had abated, and the efforts of the road crew were evident when returning to view Main St. once again.

You can wax eloquent about the joys of snow all you want, but there is also the reality of the lumbar stress involved in digging out of the piles and drifts.  This much accumulation is going to make for a tremendous amount of back-breaking work expended in creating a path from your door and in freeing up your vehicle from the grips of the storm.

This series of four humps are hiding cars buried in the snowfall at the municipal parking lot.  

Of course, as long as you reside in town, there are other methods for getting around:

you can glide along the byways, 

or you can perambulate the streets. 

Next day: same College Ave. car gives a stark reminder of just how much came down throughout the night.  What car?  Contrast Saturday night with Sunday morn:

Let it snow, let it snow.  Do we have any choice?   Better to go with the snow-flow and put on a happy face.

You are invited to submit any photos you take of the winter wonderland; send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I will be glad to put them in the paper.  Please use jpeg format and no larger that 6 x 4 inches; however many magical pixels that might be.