Snowzilla (aka Winter Storm Jonas) rolled into town, dropped a lot of snow, and went on its way, and boy was it a great storm!

I've posted the full timelapse that takes us from the start through everyone shoveling out their cars in particularly futile efforts.

I have to believe that snow etiquette dictates those who dig out their car have the right to reserve their hard earned spot with an orange code or garbage can, right? I would assume so. Otherwise I'm sure we'll see fisticuffs and a Mad Max Fury Road fight to the death over parking when someone decides to snake someone else's spot.

The other day just before sunset I took Lulu around town for a little stroll. She loves playing in the snow when it isn't an active blizzard, but it was taller than she is in most places, so it made it a little tough. At certain points she looked like she was walking around in the Hoth Rebel Base. (High five if you get this reference.)

We also had to walk carefully, always making sure we weren't walking beneath potentially treacherous icicles.

The streets were full of people in almost every direction. The walking in the street was much easier than on the sidewalks that had yet to be cleared. For anyone who knows the area, the photo below is looking down North St. Asaph Street towards Trader Joe's.

The Government was closed yesterday and today, so I'm working from home during this time. But this also means I was able to take my lunch break and join a giant neighborhood dig out in our back parking area. It was a lot of fun to see everyone chipping in. 

This effort included Ace, our friendly neighborhood beagle.

As I said on Instagram, our neighborhood is a great one. Everyone knows everyone, and we're pretty much all friends. When you live so close that you can touch your neighbor's house while standing inside of your own house (yes, we can, and it's a little weird sometimes), it makes a world of difference when everyone works together. After a little over an hour of digging we'd cleared the whole back parking area and the alley all of the way through the plow line and into the street. This is a major accomplishment. I think that's why everyone is standing there admiring our work.

The other thing we took care of, or rather our HVAC contractor took care of, was the heat at the other house. This is another situation where we ended up very fortunate. The HVAC contractor we hired to install our geothermal is Southern Pride Service. The owner, Steve Welch, has been tremendously helpful throughout the whole process since we met him last year after the big freeze. 

After our power went out and came back up at the other house, I logged in to see if the heater was warming the house back up. Unfortunately, the remote thermostat showed a problem connecting to the unit. I feared the heat was out, but since we couldn't get out to the house I got in touch with Steve and he offered to swing by to check it out. Long story short, Steve was able to determine that the breaker for the unit tripped after the power came back up, was able to determine why, and was able to fix it for us. As I write this, the house is back up to temperature and everything is looking good. This is just another example of being quite fortunate to find a contractor that knows their stuff and you can trust! I also am glad I had the tools in place to discover the heat was out without actually being there. That's technology!

Now, as the rest of the DC region digs out, we can look back on this amazing snow storm blizzard and look forward to the next opportunity when we'll get to experience Alexandria in "winter wonderland" form. Until then, here are a few more photos from my stroll during the blizzard that make me happy we're able to experience the occasional blanket of snow in our town.

Virtue and the alley in the midst of the hardest snow of the storm.

Even in the worst of it, King Street was a social hub where everyone seemed in awe of the storm.

My favorite part of the storm is how the roads, sidewalks, and houses look like they've stepped back in time, like these on lower Captain's Row.

I also just like how some of my favorite houses look in the snow. It tends to add so much depth and detail to the already intricate architectural items of the houses, like the doors and windows.

In some cases the silence and vacant roads were downright eerie, such as when I was looking down Washington Street with no cars in view. This is usually one of the busiest streets and intersections in town.

The waterfront was completely frozen over and almost completely devoid of people.

By the next day the melt and plowing had begun, and the beautiful blue sky was a welcome transition.

But evidence that we'll be a while until we're back to business as usual is everywhere. Won't be riding these bikes anytime soon.

The sunset behind Christ Church added a coolness to the trees and streets.

And the spite house was sporting a rather large ominous icicle from the roof. That icicle is almost as tall as the house is wide.

The houses of lower Queen street's 300 block were even more beautiful than usual.

But I still think this photo of Columbia Firehouse is my favorite photo from the storm. 

We hope you've enjoyed our storm coverage and a glimpse into our experience. And the next time a storm of the century rolls through Old Town, you better believe we'll have a live cam and lots of updates.