It’s 8:23 p.m., and I’ve just returned from taking some friends to their parents’ home in Lutherville. Their power has been out since 5 this morning, and the temperature was hovering around 50 degrees before I picked them up. BGE has no idea when their power will return. They couldn’t take the chance–not with two kids and a dog. Now, the family is safe and warm. Thank goodness for the Jeep, which navigated brilliantly through both trips.

The condition of the roads is grossly inconsistent, sometimes between stretches of just a few hundred feet. It makes little sense to me how two-lane roads are in better shape than major thoroughfares. They are, though, and some even have dry pavement. The worst road is, ironically enough, my own. Every other road I was on has been plowed at least once.

Not that this makes me think we’ll have school on Monday, or even Tuesday, for that matter. I noticed that some of the side streets that I passed were untouched–not even a pedestrian had strolled along the street; the space between the quiet houses seemed more like a common pasture, smoothed with the expertise of a master pastry chef putting the final touches on a classy, yet simple sheet cake.

Cars parked along roads are buried, and the snow that’s been plowed from the streets has been pushed against (and often over) the cars, making them virtually invisible. It will be days before these cars are unburied and able to move along the streets.

Even Governor O’Malley stated this evening that motorists should stay off the roads “for the next few days.” With temperatures dipping to 10-15 degrees each of the next few nights, I wonder how successful snow plows will be in shaving the ice off the side streets before our next storm hits on Tuesday and into Wednesday. A wintry mix is predicted Tuesday, with all snow anticipated for the evening and into Wednesday with driving winds.

With this additional mid-week storm, It’s my belief that we’ll be out of school until next Tuesday, and that’s assuming that yet another storm predicted for next weekend doesn’t materialize. If if does, though, we could be looking at an additional 2-3 days off of school, racking up a total of 12-13 days off of school.

The last thing any school system wants is a second winter break. The only silver lining is that, as long as the state of emergency exists across Maryland, school systems have the right to apply for a waiver and have those missed days excused from the required 180 days of classroom instruction.

We’ll see what happens. For now, let’s keep helping our neighbors in our community. Check in on those who might need prescription refills, or who might just need a call to let them know someone’s concerned about them.

Until tomorow: stay safe…and warm!