The City Re-Awakens

Although the great federal city has removed itself from siege status as far as the snow is concerned, a naïve and optimistic intern such as myself almost wishes it was still a blizzard, and that Congress would get snowed in and they would all have to bond and make friends. The rest of the nation could go about its business, but the capitol would be buried in snowdrifts for weeks, at the conclusion of which, lawmakers would emerge en masse singing a rousing chorus of "American the Beautiful."

Sadly, the blizzards have ceased. Driving traffic is apparently horrendous still, but public transportation is grinding back into motion. A few notes from the tail end of Snowmaggedon (which everyone seems to like more than “Snowpocolypse”) before I bring this blog up to speed.

By the time the second blizzard hit, and almost every store, museum or public building was shuttered and locked, everyone was getting antsy. Let’s face it: interns are here for one primary reason: for their internship. With that removed for 10 days, and everything else shut down, things can get rather dull.

Luckily, one of my oldest and closest friends goes to school in the city. After a trip to one of the 9 billion CVS stores in this area for emergency snack supplies, we returned to the apartment and had a terrific afternoon. Note to that person, if she is reading this: you forgot your hat and I still have it.

I had also read an article from the Wall Street which mentioned that DC public works had decided to build a gigantic mountain of snow in an abandoned parking lot somewhere in the city. Up to 15 dump trucks an hour were just showing up, putting down the snow where they could and leaving. This sounded like something a Mainer should go and see. And judge for himself.

So I did a bit of research and a bit of Google Mapping, enlisted my New Hampshire sidekick, and took off to find this snow mountain. We eventually found it, in a lower parking lot of the abandoned DC General Hospital. It was massive. More sprawling than tall (remember: dump trucks can only dump so high), the pile of snow nearly covered a gigantic, Wal-Mart sized parking lot that sloped down towards the Anacostia River.

After exploring that, and the eerie abandoned hospital (I love old buildings. My sidekick was nervously frowning at me the entire time), we boarded the train and rode back home after scouting out other parts of the city to see if anything was open (it wasn’t). It was eerie again to see Metro stations with empty ghost trains on tracks, waiting for better weather to resume full service.

But now, the city has more or less started operating again. Congress is in recess, which results in a more relaxed pace at KSCW. My class at The Washington Center, suspended for two weeks in a row, has also resumed with an increase in the workload to make up for time lost. 

Finally, I must confess that I became irate at a family blocking a sidewalk the other day. Clearly tourists from out of town, they were moving slowly, talking loudly and impossibly blocking anyone from passing them. I eventually passed them (only to have them catch up at the crosswalk) but realized, later that day, that I shouldn’t be as irate. Annoying as they might be, that touristy family was doing something admirable. They were broadening their horizons, they were stepping out to a different world and learning about something new.

Sometimes I wonder, if we could all travel to three or four different places around the country or around the world, would that be enough to break us out of our usual shells of routine and comfort and maybe leave us as better rounded people? At least that family was trying. My apologies to you, wherever you are. Just don’t block the sidewalk.