March 06

There's something to be said for ending the day on a high note. I loathe the snow, so I find very little amusing about it. However, on my way to my car after getting off work last night (or, more correctly, early this morning), I saw this. Then I laughed, unlimbered my backpack, took out my camera, and took the picture.

This is the exit in front of the Colonnade Hotel from the E Line at Prudential. Somebody -- a prankster, or one of the many art students who roam the sidewalks at night -- had put a "carrots" sign, such as you might see in a freshly-tilled garden, in the snowbank. I've been studying the photo and can't really explain why I think it's funny. I just think it is.

I ended the day laughing at this wretched snow, which was a perfectly marvelous way to end a long day, and hopefully will be my bon voyage to the wretched stuff for the season.

65/365 -

March 02

It's amazing, really, how Boyfriend's Saab looks fast even when buried in the snow. I awoke this morning to the sight of both our cars slumbering under this foot of frozen precipitation, and proceeded to spend two physically-active hours shoveling them out from beneath the sodden mess. I'm beginning to think I'm going to get my first repetitive stress injury of my life from shoveling snow. It's dig-carry-dump, dig-carry-dump, over and over again.

This winter hasn't thrown any particularly-bad blizzards at New England, but it's been relentless in sending us snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm. The biggest of the drifts and mounds of snow had just melted -- finally -- before this storm arrived. There are only 18 more days until spring arrives, and I can only hope that it brings warmer weather and more sunshine -- mainly because I'm going to lose it if I have to deal with shoveling very much more snow!

61/365 -

February 27

I'm starting to worry about my preoccupation with the weather.

On days like today, when the sun is shining and it's nice and unseasonably warm, it's enough to cheer you right up. I even pulled my camera out of its bag before leaving for work, just to snap a photo of the temperature reading (which is a far cry from January 16th, but still). But on my way in, I listened to the forecast on the radio and heard that more of that vile, disgusting snow is going to fall on Sunday ... and Monday, and possibly Tuesday.

You know what? That really sucks.

Spring can't come quickly enough for my taste. I've had quite enough of snow and sleet and cold temperatures for this season.

58/365 -

February 21

There's more snow coming tomorrow.

We have quite the assortment of snow-clearing tools on our front porch. Different shovels work better for different kinds of snow clearing; there's one for lifting lots of light snow, metal-tipped models for cutting through crusts of ice, large metal spades, a plastic one for wetter snow, and one small solid steel square blade that's excellent for whacking and cracking sheets of ice. Oh, and the broom -- this is for when there's not enough snow to shovel.

Hopefully, tomorrow's snow will be the last of the winter, and soon, the landladies will make the shovels go away for the season. And I can't wait.

52/365 -

February 18

It’s snowing again. When I look out, the blowing snow resembles nothing so much as a swarm of malevolent Tinkerbells. Originally, the forecast called for mixed rain and snow and little to no accumulation. When I checked it online a few minutes ago, they were calling for about an inch of snow.

Well, an inch is about an inch too much for me.

For what it’s worth, it’s also fiendishly difficult to get a good photo of snow falling at night. This is the best of a pretty mediocre series of shots; I popped the flash at the beginning of the two-second exposure to try to catch the blowing snow in suspension.

The snow should end tomorrow – if the forecast holds. It won’t be a moment too soon, either.

49/365 -

February 10

The weather is improving in Boston, my cold is improving, and I'm beginning to see beauty in even the ugliest things. I noticed these pretty icicles dripping in the warming weather, hanging off a mound of ugly black and gray snow-ice shoveled out of my parking space at some time over the past four or five storms. We have a few warmer days in the forecast, so the piles of ice should shrink more over the next few days.

Maybe it's that I'm feeling better physically as my cold wanes, and I'm less stressed now that my partner is back from his trip overseas, but seeing the ice melt like this is a wonderful thing. By my count, spring is 38 days away (March 20th), which puts us slightly more than halfway through winter. I can make it through 38 more days. That's not so long at all.

41/365 -

February 03

"Nuisance snow." It's the only phrase to describe what Boston is getting today. The snow is wet and sticky, clings to everything, and is treacherously slippery on roads and underfoot, which means it requires action to clear it and keep it roads and sidewalks passable. However, it's not accumulating enough to shovel or use a snowblower on, but it's too sticky for a broom to move effectively. You can lay down salt and sand, but the falling snow covers it without it doing much good. Clearing the snow involves a lot of pushing and shoving for not too great an apparent return. It's a real inconvenience.

No, scratch that. It's not an inconvenience, it's just a pain in the ass.

34/365 -

January 28

Up until last night, Boston has had 44.5 inches of snow this winter. This morning, more fell -- four more inches, by my measurement.

This storm, however, didn't just bring snow. First it was snow, then sleet and freezing rain, then plain rain. The snow fell heavily enough that the plows and sanders didn't actually finish their jobs before the sleet and rain arrived. Sand and salt added to snow being wet by rain makes for a cold, viscous, slushy mud that's really quite gross. Depending on the weather, being behind one of these trucks can be a blessing or a curse. Blessing in icy weather, because you get better traction, and curse in this kind of weather, where the mud on the roads gets just about everywhere.

It's not too cold right now, and the rain will end soon. The best word to describe the current weather is "gross." And statistically, February is Boston's snowiest month. I'm trying very hard not to dwell on that bit of awesome, cheery news.

28/365 -

January 18

Snow, snow, and more snow. I know I'm probably imagining it, but it seems like this winter has been one of the snowiest I remember in New England.

This is the view from my front porch this morning, during the last of the snowfall. The original photo was so dull and gray, I considered (and experimented with) rendering it as a black-and-white image. Ultimately, however, I ended up increasing the color saturation a bit, just to bring something out of the eye-catching yellow house on the corner, and the red of the stop signs and my neighbor's hat and gloves.

There is one good thing about the weather today: it's warmer than its been in more than a week. I don't like snow, but it's marginally better than having highs in the high teens and lows nearing zero. When air is that cold, it can't even hold enough moisture to snow.

18/365 -

January 14

Peace signs magically appeared in the snow blanketing my poor, snowbound automobile overnight last night. I immediately thought of the Eagles song "Peaceful Easy Feeling," when I saw it. It was pleasant and pretty and strikingly eye-catching, and I hummed a few bars of the song, off-key, as I photographed the pleasant discovery. I started off the cold winter day in a decent mood.

Well, I got over that pretty quickly.

I was more than an hour late to work today, after not accomplishing a whole lot to begin with, when I stopped for lunch at a local fast food place, placed my order, and realized I didn't have my wallet with me. I went home and couldn't find the stupid thing, so I had to turn my bedroom upside down and shake it, since that was the last place I positively remember having it. My bedroom, which is somewhat cluttered to begin with, now bears a striking resemblance to ... well, a room that's been turned upside down and shaken vigorously. When an hour's searching revealed nothing but the floor, the bed, and various dirty clothes, I despaired of finding it and simply grabbed the keys and prayed that I wouldn't be caught driving to work without my license.

The wallet was in the car the entire time.

It's days like this that it's not worth falling out of bed in the morning.

14/365 -