Wednesday, January 7, 2015

first snow

Yesterday we received about 3 inches of snow in Downtown Silver Spring. Ambiguous forecasts made this snowfall unexpected to a lot of people. It was a general mess in the right-of-way all day.

 I walked to Safeway in the afternoon, after digging-out our sidewalks and walkways. I was surprised to find almost all of the way clear on my street, leading to Fenton. Things got worse as I got closer, and Fenton wasn't very good at all. It was surprising because I have grown used to Fenton sidewalks being cleared very well recently - with a few major exceptions.

Later - near dusk - I took my dog Opie for a walk that took us on Fenton in the other direction - towards Montgomery College. That sidewalk had major lengths of unshoveled walks - right near  heavy traffic. Very dangerous. It is a piece of Fenton right-of-way that no one wants to claim during these events. No man's land. The Bike Share location was completely snowed-in.
 The weather is forecast to be bitterly-cold over the next couple of days. The unshoveled sidewalks have re-frozen. What was slush yesterday now has the texture of hand-blown glass. It could remain that way for a couple of days. I'll have to be really careful.

No one was breaking any laws by not shoveling less than 24 hours after a snow, but that doesn't make conditions any less dangerous for pedestrians.Sometimes we allow ourselves to ignore what we know is wrong - so throw-up our hands and claim to be powerless. To deem some people important, and others expendable.

These photos were taken on my way to Safeway at about 3 pm.

click on the first photo and use your arrow keys to progress. You should get a "flipbook" effect.

Sligo Avenue - mostly-cleared


Sligo Avenue


Sligo Avenuex Woodbury


 Sligo Avnue approaching Fenton

Sligo Avenue approaching Fenton.


16 Bus Stop. One of the busiest.


 850 Sligo Avenue.





Fenton, travelling north.




































































































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