Lest anyone get the impression that we are not having fun during Snowmaggedon, I'd refer you all to the Washington Post website. On the front page you'll see some pictures of Dupont Circle here in DC. I doubt that you'll see me in the pictures but I was in fact there with some friends. It was a madhouse of a moving snowball fight including a few souls carrying flags and leading charges. Those silly folks who drove their SUVs through the circle found that they were pelted. In one case the driver kept coming into the circle and good naturedly goading the crowd into attacking.
Some of you will no doubt recall the unfortunate occurence during the December snow storm. A "flash" snowball fight was called for in the U street neighborhood of DC and cars driving through were pelted. Unfortunately one of those cars was a Humvee driven by an off duty metropolitan police officer who decided to stop his truck and get out to yell at the snowball throwers. Whereupon the throwers, not realizing that he was upset, pelted him, as the were pelting each other. He drew his sidearm and started threatening people. It became quite a story here in DC aided by the footage of him that was posted on the internet.
So, this time notice was given a few days ago and the police were informed and were even there for some of it. This time things went more peacefully. Or at least as peacefully as a snowball fight involving a few hundred people could. In our wandering we came across a number of people trying to ski, snowboard and sled using everything from cardboard to trays. In the same area, some enterprising souls built an igloo, which was quite decently done and quite spacious and warm. However, there was one significant flaw, there was no outlet, no vent of any sort aside from the entry which was naturally enough at ground level.
Between the Washington Post site and the coverage of the snowball fight on CNN, you'll get some sense of the holiday atmosphere here in the center of town.
Some of you will no doubt recall the unfortunate occurence during the December snow storm. A "flash" snowball fight was called for in the U street neighborhood of DC and cars driving through were pelted. Unfortunately one of those cars was a Humvee driven by an off duty metropolitan police officer who decided to stop his truck and get out to yell at the snowball throwers. Whereupon the throwers, not realizing that he was upset, pelted him, as the were pelting each other. He drew his sidearm and started threatening people. It became quite a story here in DC aided by the footage of him that was posted on the internet.
So, this time notice was given a few days ago and the police were informed and were even there for some of it. This time things went more peacefully. Or at least as peacefully as a snowball fight involving a few hundred people could. In our wandering we came across a number of people trying to ski, snowboard and sled using everything from cardboard to trays. In the same area, some enterprising souls built an igloo, which was quite decently done and quite spacious and warm. However, there was one significant flaw, there was no outlet, no vent of any sort aside from the entry which was naturally enough at ground level.
Between the Washington Post site and the coverage of the snowball fight on CNN, you'll get some sense of the holiday atmosphere here in the center of town.