2/2/11 Wednesday 4:40PM

Today's Groundhog Day but I think most people forgot because of the snow. Starting Sunday night the forecasters predicted a hellacious storm of the “snow combined with high winds equals zero visibility” kind. Honestly, I can't speak one way or the other for the peak conditions because they hit in the middle of the night. Campus was wired yesterday with news of the potential closing and I had fun interrupting meetings and walking through the halls with the news that we were shutting down at 2. Then I drove home, stopping at Costco on the way, and settled in for the night. I had a couple beers but didn't get drunk because last time I I needed thirty-six hours to recover and I didn't want to waste a snow day on a hangover.

This morning N and I were up by six-thirty. We watched some of the early snow coverage (don't you think that must get boring for the newscasters after a while, pretty much repeating “it's snowing, stay inside” for eight hours in a row?) before I made cinnamon rolls, took a shower, and started laundry. I made fudge/oatmeal bars. By nine the sun was out, full power, and the reflection off the bright white snow left the landscape glowing. I walked downtown past people shoveling or snowblowing. The northeast wind traveled hard and fast but I wasn't cold, really, and definitely not in the “I need to get out of this weather now” state. The walk was fun, really. I didn't expect the library open, and they were closed, but Java Dock and Tello's were both staffed. I tied my shoes while a teenage girl made me a JD latte. She said the morning was slow and earlier, before dawn, visibility was difficult. I finished the latte on the return trip then helped M shovel out the stretch from the garage door to the alley. After lunch I decided I was trying to cram too much into the snow day so I took a long bath with the Siberia book, finished Machete, and here I am.

In a couple minutes I”m going to meditate. More later. Tomorrow we're due for the post-storm cold front, near zero. Long day at work. I'm ahead, however, with planning, so I need to breathe and stay calm and change the “always tense” pattern. Meditation. Now. Good night. Stay warm. Within a couple hours I'll be under the blankets with a book, the way winter nights should pass.