We’ve gotten a nice taste of snow across Georgia and, while it lingered inches deep in the shady spots, it was more of an “oohain’t that-pretty” snowfall than a paralyzing winter weather event like the poor folks in Washington, D.C., have had.

Our southern snow event, as the newsblasters called it, dropped four or five inches conveniently on a Friday evening and roads were pretty passable by noon Saturday, leaving Friday evening for snuggling and Saturday morning for playing. I took a few hundred photos and tromped through the snow as much as I wanted, but I did really miss playing in the snow with my two boys who were little years ago when I was a Navy chief.

I really miss those government snow shutdowns.

We were stationed in Washington, D.C., in the early 90s, and the area was hit with several big snowstorms. Like military members and other government employees who were considered non-essential, I took part in more than one Federal government snowbound shutdown. They were great – we stayed home, played on the neighborhood’s great sledding hills, drank hot chocolate when we got cold, put on dry clothes and went out to play more. We all have wonderful memories and treasured scars from those days in the snow.

Last week beat them all. Over the week, the weather in D.C. and all over the Middle Atlantic has broken every record for snowfall, with two storms that have been dubbed “Snowmageddon.” Residents found 30 inches on the ground last week, and then a second fierce winter storm walloped Washington in less than a week, adding two more feet of snow to the piles.

The second blast once again closed the federal government, airports and schools and gave millions of snowbound families a second dose of both awe and dread – awe at the amount of snow that has fallen, dread that they’ve got to put up with each other for another week without being able to escape to work and school.

The experts say that it costs the government $100 million each day that it is shut down. You’ll have to agree that a mere $100 million is chump change nowadays, since the Obama administration seems determined to spend billions of taxpayers’ money every day. In fact, we’re probably saving billions every day the Federal government is shut down.

Come to think of it, despite the federal government being shut down during Snowmageddon, the nation has seemed to keep running just fine. We lived our lives, went to work, shoveled our snow, without any day-to-day input from them. I know the bureaucrats who make up the federal government, along with most of America’s elected leaders, think that they’re vitally important to every aspect of the lives of American people, but that’s just a fantasy. We’re America, not them. They need us way more than we need them.

In fact, if it weren’t for the large percentage of Wilkes County people who get government checks, I’d just say that the government workers of Washington D.C. can stay home and play in the snow for months.

We’ll let you know when we need you.