Black and White, Mostly White

I almost went out for a ride this morning. Really. I was up in time to make the usual Thursday 6:15 start. The temperature was hovering around 39F, and the wind was strong, but that wasn't what stopped me. Seeing how wet the street was, I thought I'd better check the radar. There on the monitor were some unusual colors. White and Pink? WTF? It still didn't look too bad out the window and I wavered for a while thinking I might steal an hour of riding before that white and pink stuff arrived, but the final straw was the 10 am meeting I had downtown. I mean, it's all well and good to get wet and cold on a training ride and then come home like a wet puppy to a warm shower, but getting wet and cold and then walking into a meeting downtown with a bunch of public servant office rats is an altogether different situation. They wouldn't understand. As it turned out, I guess I missed out on something really different this morning.

So I reluctantly wrote off the morning ride and drove downtown in the car, camping out at The Wife's office for a couple of hours until it was time for my meeting with the LA, ORDA, LRA, and OCD, to discuss the CDBG and the PDA we were expecting from the DRU so we could start the ERR and A&E work for the new CHC. Soon after we arrived, I glanced out the 10th floor window overlooking Canal Street and casually remarked, "wow, it's really raining hard."

Then I took a second look.

That wasn't rain. Rain doesn't swirl around in the wind like that. That was genuine snow! Everyone jumped up and rushed to the window. It wasn't stopping, either. Now, you have to understand that this sort of thing only happens maybe once or twice every ten years or so. I did my best to get a few photos through the dirty rain-splattered window, and eventually a few of us went up to the roof which was, by then, blanketed with snow. Looking out over the city, the entire landscape was nothing but black and white, mostly white. An hour later, it was still coming down and it was time for my meeting, so I donned my hat and gloves and walked carefully through the slush. The cold water quickly found its way through the seams in my loafers, and i was glad I'd put on a pair of coolmax socks that morning.

So anyway, it was an interesting morning. I stopped by the house on the way back uptown to my office to change pants, shoes and socks, and the rest of the day was pretty much nonstop. I don't know exactly why, but things in the government affairs office always get really busy this time of year. Every now and then I'd look up from my work and think, "damn, I wish I was riding in this." Go figure.......