Winter Storm Warning

I love living in a northern city. We've had some snow here, and although the wind is blowing it around a lot, it doesn't seem that bad to me. It's winter, so we're going to get snow, and actually, we've been quite light on that count so far this year. But what I really like about being in a city that knows it might snow is that for the most part, people take it in stride. As an example, Mrs. Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk had planned an informal event at the old homestead tonight, but she wasn't sure if she'd start to get some cancellations. Well, she got a couple, but for the most part everybody came. The weather's miserable, the streets are messy, but people are willing to make the effort and go out. There are a number of places I've lived where it would have turned out quite differently.

I'm a bit mystified that the streets aren't as clean as I'd expect. We've only got four, maybe five inches in our part of town. There's some wind, but it doesn't feel like its overpowering, swirling the snow in all directions. I guess that's what's going on, though. Certainly we had the local news shows tell us that things are dire outside. Lake Shore Drive is closed at its south end. Traffic is crawling along the freeways. But I can't imagine that the city of Chicago isn't doing its utmost to keep the streets as clean as humanly possible. With a mayoral election a scant two weeks away, Richie Daley knows better than to allow anything less. (Of course, he might be a bit more worried if he actually had a viable opponent.) Maybe things will be better in the morning.