Via Periscope

All morning long, Sadie Cornelius’ phone was buzzing.

Far-flung family and friends wanted to know: Are you safe? How’s that blizzard business going?

“It became a full time job to answer everyone who’s called or texted,” says Cornelius, who works from home as a marketing consultant. Now, she just can just send them a link (I will attest to finding this very handy, too).

She set up the website snowedinshaw.com and, starting at 1:22, began broadcasting the conditions outside her home on Periscope for the world to see.

Her enthusiastic colleagues, one of whom helped set up the site, have been tuning in from around the country. One of them just pinged her to tell her that “a dog just walked by with little booties and is crapping in your yard.”

Before going live, Cornelius checked in to make sure her neighbor, whose courtyard can be seen in the shot, was okay with it. He loved the idea and suggested that they go out and share a drink together around 5 p.m. on camera.

She opted for Periscope in case the power goes down, and, in that case, plans to keep the stream going for as long as possible using a cellular connection. There’s some gentle background music to drown out the sounds of her typing, now that she can finally stop answering phone calls and get back to work.

Meanwhile, for another view and rather less gentle background music, you can check out the live shot that is being broadcast from the balcony of the Speaker of the House’s office in the U.S. Capitol.

Says DCist Associate Editor Rachel Kurzius, “The music is straight out of a Sandals resort. It is like a musak version of a karaoke song.”

Either way, as Cornelius points out, “There’s something therapeutic about watching snow.”

Update from a commenter: Here’s a third livestream, this one from a terrace in West End. The Washington Post and the downtown BID both have live shots from downtown.