Hunkering down sounds fun, but the plowing system in our town works very well, so we're usually able to get out of the house and get to work or the grocery store with no trouble after a storm.

I stock up on booze!

nah, being in mnpls it's more like "carry on, nothing to see." Sure there are the occasion storms that slow everything to an irritating crawl, but if things need to be done, snow isn't an excuse.

Having lived in DC (Bethesda actually), especially during the winter of 2001/2002, I never understood why people freaked out over snowfall. Sure, that was a CRAZY winter, and Bethesda did basically shut down except for that one fake Irish bar up near Old Georgetown (forgetting name).

But 18 inches isn't that bad. And DC is a northern-enough city that it will be plowed by Monday, maybe Tuesday. If you don't have enough food in your house as-is to last four days, then you have bigger problems.

I am currently hunkering down in DC by leaving work early, daydreaming and researching for my upcoming home buy, and thinking about what to make with all of my overripe pears.

What I should be doing is cleaning and packing...but I think we are going to be snowed in for days. There is time!

Um...18 inches? They're talking 20"-28" now...

I'll be catching up on reading. :)

Agree with Trish; I've had cable news on all morning and the predictions for DC are 2'. The checkout lines at one of the Safeways in NW DC are 40 carts deep. Not only are the "necessities" being scooped up, but so are all snacks for Super Bowl viewing.

(Typed as I sit on my rooftop deck a few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean, in sunny 70 degree weather.)

I heard the big anticipated problem for the DC storm is that it's supposed to be a heavy snow, which could mean a lot of downed power lines and electricity problems. I agree that the DC area tends to freak out WAY too much over a little cold weather and snow (or at least all my relatives still living there do--I grew up there), but power outages are a real problem to worry about when the temps are low.

I also don't get the people who run out to the grocery store every time there's supposed to be a few inches on the ground--do these people live with bare cupboards all the time? In the normal course of our lives, we pretty much always have some good fresh stuff in the fridge, a full freezer, and plenty of dry and canned goods (pasta, rice, cereal, crackers, beans, soups, sauces, preserves, dog food, etc.)--these are just staples for us, nothing crazy, but we could probably go two weeks or more without even noticing a shortage of anything significant. The last thing you'll find me doing as the weather starts to get crazy and the roads get bad is rushing out to the grocery store to arm wrestle someone for the last jar of peanut butter.

I live in western NY, where we know all about this kind of weather! I remember as a kid, when we were going to get slammed, we went out and bought bread, milk and eggs. I guess a major snowstorm really makes people crave French Toast.

Great big pot of a thick, hearty soup; big chunk of bread with sweet butter; jazz playing; window shades completely up so as to watch the snow falling; organizing a closet, cabinets, or junk drawer.

Well I'm in LA right now, where it is only raining, and I don't have to worry about such things. Like Sydney, I've mostly been enjoying 70 degree days. But in response to hyzen, I for one eat mostly fresh food. I don't keep a cupboard or freezer stocked with ready to eat meals because I don't like eating packaged/processed foods in general. I shop at the farmer's market once a week for my fresh food (fruits, veggies, herbs) and then go to the bigger grocery store for staples like rice, dried beans & lentils, & pasta, and I snack on fruit & vegetables instead of things like crackers. If I wasn't going to be able to go to the store for a while, I'd definitely go out and stock up; I could SURVIVE for several weeks on what I keep around, but it would get pretty boring when all my fresh ingredients were gone. So, I can relate to why some people might need to stock up. Heck, they may even be raw-foodies. ;)

rainybeth I'm also from upstate ny and I'm familiar with "french toast" storms.
Although I've lived in the north east for most of my life, the frantic shopping sprees seemed most prevalent during my time living in NC. I always chalked it up to people feeling less comfortable driving in inclement weather. In upstate ny you really dont have the option to just not drive in snow, its 1/3 of the year!

I heard it was going to be 28" and wonder sometimes if the politicians are behind it so we run out and spend our money!
I was outside Baltimore for several huge snowstorms and I dont think one needs to panic and run out to clear the shelves, especially toilet paper!!! It's not like you are out in the middle of no where.
But I hope all of you are safe out there and soon will be back to normal, whatever that is.....

sassydo, you just might be on to something! :)

livc, maybe you can shop year round at a farmer's market in LA, but here in the northeast and midwest, I can assure you I wouldn't be getting fresh local fruits and veg at this time of year! ;) It should be the same for the DC folks.

My freezer isn't stocked with ready to eat food, mostly--the vast majority is frozen fruits and veggies (some of which I did grow or buy at a farmer's market here when they were in season), some local bread (it always spoils before we can finish it if we don't freeze some), and yes, a few "necessities" like soy ice cream, Korean dumplings, and veggie burgers. So while we might run out of the fresh fruit we keep on hand, we'd still have frozen fruit for smoothies, baking, oatmeal, etc. Plus we have some juice, and a few jars of applesauce and other such preserves. We also have a moderate quantity on hand of fresh food that keeps well, like carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, apples, etc. And that's all in addition to the dry goods and canned stuff.

None of this comes of trying to "stock up"--it's just a combination of being busy (i.e., I don't have TIME to run out of stuff and continually go to the store, so when I'm there, I buy 3 boxes of cereal instead of one, and a bulk bag of onions instead of just a few, etc.), and trying to eat mostly local (i.e. I don't eat a ton of fresh summer fruit and veggies in the winter).

Anyway, I can see some people being caught short and needing to pick up a few things, of course that will happen sometimes, but the lemming-like convergence upon the grocery stores has always puzzled me. What were all these people going to eat for dinner tomorrow, or pack in their kids' lunches, if the snow HADN'T come?

I'm almost jealous up here is Boston...
We're not supposed to get hit by this one.
Enjoy the hunkering. Time for stews, booze
and good books.
Hope you don't lose electricity!

Stock up heavily, DC residents; I just heard a moment ago that the storm could well dump 30" on the area! I did internships at The Washington Post and ABC News while in school and survived a few "big" DC storms. I well remember the absolute panic that ensued. Looks like schools and a lot of offices will be closed into the middle of next week, so get out the sleds and cross country skis and enjoy the empty streets!

Here in High Point, NC we had 9" a week ago today and our city didn't plow our street--in town!--until the following Thursday. We have wimpy non-snow cars so I had to walk a couple of miles in the deep slush to go to the pharmacy. Right now we're getting frozen rain/snow (the tail of your big blizzard). As for stocking up, we don't do anything special as the Chinese takeout and pizza delivery all have 4WD's. Stay safe!

i'm so glad i went to the grocery store yesterday- it was crazy crowded!!

I like the idea but I wonder if I would do well. being a californian native I am not sure but I am so attracted to the thought of the east coast.

is that picture photoshoped? Raspberry color house in snow looks awesome.

Another Western NY'er here... anything less than 2 feet of snow is a dusting around here. Especially living in a town where the term lake-effect snow means an extra 6 inches, we are pretty used to just barreling thru or waiting for the plows to do their job.

Better than hunkering - brush off the snow shoes and make friends with the other intrepid souls out enjoying the weather. As a reluctant city dweller, I find there's no lovelier time in the city than when it's snowed under.
Afterwards, hot chocolate with a glug of amaretto and whipped cream.
Happy blizzard!

I live in Canada where snow was invented and we have to plug our cars in overnight. We like to talk about things like "wind chill". That's when the weather people say things like, "Today exposed skin will freeze in under 2 minutes." My city's annual snow-clearing budget is 6 million dollars. We'll go out and drive around as long we can see our own hood ornaments. Everybody - and I mean everybody - owns a snow blower.

Its all relative, I guess.

I'm in Charlottesville VA but grew up in Midwest, did undergrad in Chicago. Snow is snow. And snow in mountains gets serious around here, with roads and drift. If we are getting 20-30 inches here, and last year they only had one inch of snow for the entire season last year - its still a big deal.

For most of the country, this amount of snow is a big deal. Its especially unseasonable for this area, where most people have heat pumps instead of furnaces. Its different. You are so bad ass if this is your regular winter accumulation but I'm not jealous of Canada or Minnesota or wherever.

Got a few extras at grocery store on Monday before the rush. Hope i have enough fresh vegetables and red wine to go with frozen chicken and steak for long weekend. Hunkering down with fireplace and the Economist and books.

We have French toast storms here too LOL

I could go to the store, but I decided to wait until tomorrow after the storm.

The truth is though, that pushing a full shopping cart through snow sucks. I'm single so I can get by with a bag or two unless I'm stocking up.

18" is just enough to be a nuisance in Boston. People here act like idiots the first sizeable snowstorm, stripping the stores of all consumables....but after the 3rd one it's business as usual.

I was supposed to take the LSAT in Georgetown and I'm snowed in. Ugh.

Here in Central Ohio it's seldom bad enough that you can't wait for a few hours and then clear out your driveway (sometimes two or three times) and then get out if you need to. So I just wanted to say, I love the color of that house in the photo!

18"? People freak out about 18"?! We live in central Ontario, Canada. December 11, 12 2009 we got (hang on)- 6.7 FEET IN LESS THAN 72 HOURS. Yes, 6.7 FEET of SNOW. I mean, we're usually pretty well equipped to deal with snow. but even this threw everything into chaos. our dogs refused to gou outside, after Tootsie fell off the back deck and we had to shovel her out. School was cancelled for a full week, the police shut down highways in and out of town, every store in town (except WalMart) shut down. Power flickered on and off. It was intense. As a Canadian, I have seen my fair share of snow, but not that much within 3 days. Thank goodness we live like a block from WalMart. AND I know how to snowshoe. We ran out of milk, bread, candles, toilet paper and dog food (NOT expecting such a huge amount of snow, obviously.)... so I snowshoed my sorry ass to WalMart. I was the only customer I saw in there, and only 4 people working. The people who had worked the night stock shift the night before. LOL Snowed in but of COURSE WalMart still opened! Thank goodness for us! We had a sleep out in our bedroom, with the kids and pets. We dragged in mattresses, sleeping bags, candles and board games. Shut the door so we would stay cozy that night if the power went out (and the heat went out). It was actually kind of fun. :) yay for snowshoes and snowmobiles!