I write this column as we dig out of what I hope to be our last winter weather event of the season.
But in case it's not, I thought maybe I should take a moment to comment on how well we did during the snow storm. We didn't do well. At all. In fact, it was sort of like The Walking Dead out there.
Just because snow may be covering the traffic lines painted on the roadway, that doesn't mean society needs to devolve into some kind of lawless, libertarian hellscape, which is how it looked to me.
What I mean is, maybe we could refrain from at least triple parking during a snow storm. Seriously. Triple parking. There were cars jutting out every which way. There were cars coming down the street on the wrong side because the opposite side seemed more passable.
There were cars stuck in the snow (if you have a rear wheel drive or a sports car, maybe a snow storm isn't the best time for you to go out driving) and traffic piling up behind them with drivers who seemed to think laying on the horn would have the same effect as getting out and seeing if could help your fellow drivers get unstuck.
Seriously. It was a wintry Walking Dead wasteland out there, which was the direct result of what looked to be a whole lot of every person for themselves. That always makes these sorts of situations far worse.
On the plus side, though, I will say a lot of us did a pretty good job getting the walks cleared the next day.
Also, a couple days before the snow, when temperatures were hitting near-record lows, I had the following experience that I just have to share with you.
I bundled up in the morning and stepped out into the cold to go to work. As I was walking, I passed a very nice, slightly embarrassed neighbor, who had run an extension cord out the front of her house. She was on her hands and knees, with a plugged-in hair dryer, blow-drying the cap to her water main.
She explained that her water pipes froze and she called 311 and this is what they told her do. I'd like to believe we've advanced in our technology to the point where this sort of thing isn't necessary, but then, I'd also like to believe there is someone at the city's 311 switchboard just making up strange things for people to do as an elaborate prank.
However, I have heard from several other people that this actually works. So, there's that.
In case you didn't get a chance to check it out, Gallery 788, at 3602 Hickory Ave., is having a closing night reception for legendary photographer Martha Cooper's Sowebo/Soweto exhibit connecting Baltimore's Sowebo to South Africa's Soweto, on Friday, Feb. 27. There will also be a free screening of Scott Kecken and Joy Lusco Kecken's documentary "We Are Arabbers."
There is also a New Belgium (which is also an unofficial nickname some have been using to refer to Hampden) beer tasting at The Wine Source, 3601 Elm Ave., on Feb. 27 from 4:30-7 p.m.
First Friday is March 6. Atomic Books' Eightbar, 3620 Falls Road, will be having an opening at 7 p.m., for a group art show called Jackets And Sleeves. A number of artists were given a list of books and records and asked to pick one and completely redesign the jacket or sleeve. Participating artists include Alex Fine, Gary Kachadourian, Steve Blickenstaff, Ben Claassen III, Andrea Kalfas and Kate Haberer.
Also March 6, the Wine Source will host another beer tasting, this time featuring Brewer's Alley and Monocacy Beer, from 4:30-7 p.m.