‘Snowmageddon’ slams mid-Atlantic; utilities race to restore power – CNN.com.

Commentators on Canadian news sites are full of self-praise, along the lines of ” Come on folks, this is routine in St. John’s.” Yes it is, but they are used to it, and the people down in Washington are not.

We had a taste of this last year. Four big snowstorms and the guys who plough were all on strike and it lasted for weeks. The schools were closed so often that I had small patients of kindergarten age who only had been to school a few days by the end of April.

But the streets were kept open, most of them in town anyway, by neighbours who used their snowblowers on sections, and others in pickup trucks with ploughs attached.

We usually have three big storms a winter, and two of them have passed us by, staying well South of the Great Lakes. Great you say? Maybe, but we will need water this summer, and the snow is a big source. Besides, yet another winter with temperatures below -20 C means more roses and other perennials missing from my garden in the spring. I say, bring on the snow.