It’s not exactly a CIA-type secret that I’m a storyteller, so when conversations here in Ashburn turned to the killer snowstorm about to hit us Saturday night, I had thoughts.
They were warm thoughts, so I posted a picture of a snowstorm back in 2003 and mentioned a fond memory I had about when the entire cul de sac was out trying to battle the 20-inches of snow falling, when it was mentioned at one point one of our neighbors had a wife that was going to have a baby just about any day.
That gave us all a sense of purpose, so we stayed outside for several hours clearing a path that you could get a car through to the main road. Where I live, VDOT does a nice job of clearing the main roads, but the side roads and cul de sacs can take a while. I remember once previously in my life explaining to an employer that I couldn’t make it in to the office, not because the roads weren’t clear, but that I sat at the bottom of a cul de sac with a steep incline and unless he had a spare front end loader he could send over to bulldoze a path, I’d be working from home.
Several had such memories in the back of our minds and we decided we weren’t going to let that happen should the necessity of making a quick trip to the hospital arise. So we gathered around the one neighbor who had a small snowblower (which could handle at best maybe 6 inches of snow at the time) and with our shovels chopped up the 20-plus inches down to a more manageable depth.
Up here in the DC area, most of us listen to @WTOP on the radio driving home from work, and yesterday I got several calls from friends at around 5 PM asking "why are you telling old war stories on my radio as I'm trying to get home?" pic.twitter.com/d00yTXn5wd
— Dave Scarangella (@DaveScarangella) January 23, 2026
It took a while. Many wisecracks were made, many muscles got sore, but by 1 AM, we had accomplished our mission, went home and we all felt we accomplished something worth.
I still smile about it, particularly when the little girl born the next few days ended up going to my beloved Virginia Tech and just graduated this year.
About an hour after posting it, it turns out the good folks at WTOP saw it and called me. Kyle Cooper – himself enjoying some warm memories given he’s an Indiana fan and alumni – and I had a nice conversation about the same stuff I just typed. I later noticed a story had been posted on the WTOP website, and then I forgot about it.
Until 5 PM, that is.
If you’re not from the DC area, there are two things you have to realize with this story. One, WTOP is a RADIO station and if you drive to and from work up here, you’ve got WTOP on in the car. Given the way some of the folks up here drive, their “traffic and weather on the 8s” is almost mandatory listening to make sure you don’t get bogged down somewhere on the Toll Road, the Beltway, or some other forsaken stretch of road.
So at the 5 PM witching hour when people were heading home, my phone starts to ring. “Did you know you’re FAMOUS?” asked one person. “When did you start telling stories on radio?” Another asked.
And then the one I was kind of expecting. It was the Dad from that night, just wanting me to know his wife had just heard the story, called him, and said “I think I know who he’s talking about.”
We then laughed and relived that night again, all by saying to each other “let me know if you need any help this weekend.”
I still chuckle at that night 24 years ago. And also remember to never take great neighbors for granted.
I am thankfully blessed with many…
