Snow fell heavily on Rockville soil one morning at the beginning of December 1990. The pile of snow on the hills in the suburbs of Washington, DC, formed a giant mound making the residents' houses look as if they were floating in the middle of it. In one of the houses, a man in his 40s inhaled deeply his favorite Dji Sam Soe clove cigarette, hoping that the snow would stop falling soon.

The time was past 8pm; the snow showed no signs of abat