were pulled off of the streets for safety now and then. and the impassable roads made the commute into d.c. all but impossible. i had to strap on cross-country skis just to break out of my neighborhood, where many drifts are running chest-high. well, you can see how getting out of the neighborhood is going to be tough at best. my skis are being buried in the snow and they are not real trail-breaking skis. so, i'm going to keep slogging down this hill up here and then a bunch of uphills to go, maybe make it to the metro about three miles from here. the snow has closed schools, offices, museums. even some white house staff members are working from home. the weight of the snow has caused some roofs to collapse, including one at a smithsonian storage facility. overburdened trees have broken, taking down power lines and leaving tens of thousands without electricity at various times since the snows began. we were without power for four days.