In WASHINGTON
FROM my apartment window, I watched the soft flakes falling gently but steadily. In a matter of hours, the grey street scene outside had disappeared under a blanket of glistening white.
Bundled up against the cold, staff from restaurants and shops emerged to playfully make giant snowmen on the sidewalks. Children let loose, creating their first snow angels of the season.
And young people, mobilised via Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, gathered on the street corner where I live for a spontaneous, neighbourhood snowball fight.
My husband and I joined in the fun, pelting each other and laughing as hundreds of our 20- and 30-something year old neighbours, standing on opposite sides of the street, cheerfully bombarded each other with fists of snow.
The blizzard that had hit Washington DC and many parts of northeastern United States was causing traffic and travel chaos, but for several hours on Saturday afternoon on the corner of 14th and U streets, young Washingtonians made the best of the weather and had a little winter fun.
Cars that drove past the action were also "attacked'' by the revellers who gleefully yelled "open window!'' before launching their volleys. Most of the motorists did not mind; some even made faces when a hit missed its mark.
But then one driver who was passing through had his vehicle "snowballed'' and minded very much indeed.
Abruptly the snowball fight stopped as a minor commotion broke out between some of the snowball fighters and the driver who had gotten out of his car.
"Get off the streets! Get off the streets now!'' the man was yelling. He was waving his arms and looked livid.
The snowball fighters responded with loud boos. Then a gasp ran through the crowd and people started to murmur: "He pulled a gun! Did you see his gun?''
Suddenly, a chant went up: "You don't bring a gun to a snowball fight!'' Snowballers whipped out their video cameras and mobile phones to record the confrontation.
Soon, several police cars showed up and the fun was broken up.
Later in the day, we found that footage of the snowball fight and the face-off was all over the Internet.
The detective who pulled the gun is the man wearing the black jacket over a cream sweater on the right -- detective Michael Baylor as identified by the Washington Post.
ST PHOTO: -- CHUA CHIN HON
The next day, our neighbourhood snowball fight made the national news. The story about how an angry driver who turned out to be a plainclothes detective had pulled a gun on snowballers was covered by the major television news networks and made it to the Washington Post with links to online videos of the incident.
Police initially denied that the detective had flashed his weapon. But on Sunday, the officer was placed on desk duty after Twitter, blogs and YouTube appeared to show otherwise, reported the Washington Post.
The paper identified the officer as Detective Michael Baylor, who has some three decades of experience on the force - a fact that is all the more disturbing as you would have thought a veteran police officer would have judged the situation appropriately and exercised more restraint.
Having been there and witnessed the event, I can say that it was an over-reaction on the part of the officer. I did not see any kind of provocation or threat that warranted the use of force or weapons.
In fact, thinking back, I realised how dangerous the situation was and how it could have ended badly because the crowd had initially no idea the man wielding the gun was a police officer.
DC police said they were still investigating the incident but Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier issued a statement on Monday admitting that it was "very obvious" that detective Baylor had pulled his weapon in response to snowballs striking his vehicle, a maroon Hummer.
"Let me be very clear in stating that I believe the actions of the officer were totally inappropriate!" chief Lanier said in the statement. "In no way, should he have handled the situation in this manner. We have taken swift action by placing him on non-contact status until all the facts are gathered and discipline is handed down."
Faced with serious crime and gun violence in parts of DC, police in the city have to be tough and on their toes all the time.
But having the right to bear arms comes with a huge responsibility. Any abuse of that right should not be brushed off lightly.
Law enforcement officers are tasked with protecting civilians, and while they carry out their duties, they must be careful not to represent the worst of America's gun-happy culture.
In this case, well-flung snowballs may sting a little, but cause no more harm than that.