The perfect storm

I don't know what technically allows a snowstorm to be categorized as a blizzard, but apparently yesterday wasn't blizzard-like. It was a blizzard. Back home we got 20-21 inches. A similar total was reached here, but my impression is that Cleveland and Clevelanders are more cut out for handling massive snowfall than central Ohio and its residents.

Although I dealt with the snow, ice, and wind firsthand, I feel like I sat out the whole thing. After all, shouldn't a blizzard inconvenience you? I went about my film festival attending without any weather-related problems. If I were staying in the same building where the event is taking place, it would have been possible to be almost completely oblivious to the blizzard.

The big glass windows on the southern side of Tower City Center (and the smaller ones in the ceiling and northern side) gave the illusion that we were inside a gigantic snow globe. Actually, it was kind of magical to be get to enjoy watching the snow fall for hours upon hours while remaining untouched by it. I might be singing a different tune if the snow caused trouble for me, but I got the best of the situation. I could take pleasure in the snowstorm's beauty and remain relatively untouched by the havoc it was wreaking.

Coming up here to see the movies was the primary reason why I made the trip, but I just needed to be somewhere else too. Sometimes it is necessary to get out of town for a few days, breathe in some different air, and leave things behind. This hasn't been a perfect getaway, but it has given me a different focus while I've been here. I'm a little sad that I missed the fun of being cooped up at home while the snow hit, but I imagine those opportunities will present themselves again.

I have been able to do some knitting during the festival, although not as much as I thought I might. My film schedules have been pretty tight, so it's been all about satisfying the need to eat and ability to squeeze into the crowded restrooms at off-peak times if at all possible. (Planning visits to the overtaxed restrooms is an art in itself.) Anything beyond is bonus time.

I depart on Monday, although I haven't determined when. Having paid to stay an extra night, I've thought about maximizing my dollars and catching a couple festival movies to get me past evening rush hour. I'm kind of ready to be home too, so it's probably a decision best left to morning.

For those readers who got hit by this storm, what did you do during it?