Webbready

I have been quiet about the recent snowfall that has engulfed Pittsburgh, even though it has personally affected me. Although I had opportunity to take pictures of the continued snow that rested on streets and sidewalks, I have decided not to save the moment in posterity. It will go down in history on its own. Aside from Snowmageddon, this will be known as the “Snow Week” for kids, a week when Pittsburgh Public Schools were cancelled.

However, as my memories of the Blizzard of 1993 indicate, these same students will rue their unscheduled freedom when the summer melts the icy memories of pleasure as they remain in hot classrooms with no air conditioning. It is also forgotten that while the Blizzard of 1993 brought more snow than the recent snows on Friday & Saturday and Tuesday & Wednesday, it did not incapacitate the city to this degree. In fact, it was school year of 1993-1994 that was comparable to this recent situation, with schools closed due an extended wave of extreme cold. Then I laughed at David Letterman’s mantra of “Too Damn Cold,” but as the school year was extended even longer, that amusement was a replaced with stifling heat in a building where I had to take tests and and receive instruction from patient instructors such as Mr. Harrison and Mrs. Berdnik. I loved to learn, but not nearly as much as I normally did because it was so terribly hot. I believe many Pittsburgh Public Schoolchildren will also have these memories, when the cold has ensured that the snow is not an ephemeral milestone, but a large white mark in history to stain the upcoming summer days.

I will say that I am surprised at how little I was able to take from this forced respite. I had initially believed that being stuck in the house would actually prove to be a cathartic experience, as it would force me to attend to matters I had long forgotten. Instead, it has only gotten me further behind in my personal projects. This is in part because the days were not spent in complete physical idleness. Instead, I had to shovel snow, and due to my inexperience with snow removal, this caused me to require more rest than I usually receive. While it is fortunate I was a position to perform my job duties from home, I missed my desk and the quietness it brought.

Save the snow shovel, save the world.