Here I sit, in my cozy townhouse in coastal Massachusetts, marveling at the fury of nature unleashed upon a cowering landscape, the savage beauty lashing the world outside with snowy abundance, the…
Aw, crap. THIS IS AWFUL!!!
The monster began last evening. I woke up around 8:45 to this inviting scene. I’ll be taking more photos later, assuming it ever ends and I can eventually claw my way out into this frickin’ winter wonderland.
It’s times like these that make me wonder why I live in New England. I mean, I was born and brought up here, you’d think I’d know better by now.
I just heard on the news that the Boston public schools have already cancelled classes for both Monday AND Tuesday, and Romney has extended the State of Energency indefinitely. I don’t have to go to work if there’s a state of emergency, but on the other hand, there will be no daycare and I’ll have a stir-crazy toddler on my hands for yet another day. (I’d take her out in the snow, but I’d lose her!!)
EddyTeddyFreddy , I was born and raised here, too. My 10th birthday was ruined by the Blizzard of '78. I should definitely know better! And Uvula Donor , I don’t even like the summers here! I’m a typical NE curmudgeon, I guess.
Meh, the summers have their evil stretches too, when it’s climbing up to 90 and humid as hell. That’s when living at the coast is great – the afternoon sea breeze. Me, I live here for the spring and fall. October alone is worth all the misery.
Though it’s hard to believe that on days like this.
I well recall the Blizzard of '78. I was living in the North End of Boston then. My brother was living in Cambridge. He and a friend skiied over to visit me the day after the storm. For the few days that all but emergency vehicles were banned from Boston, the city was a fairyland of sparkling white snow and quiet strolls down the middle of empty streets, admiring the cityscapes.
lorene! My birthday(Feb 8)was ruined by that damned blizzard of 78, too. Course it was my 19th so I guess I could skip that one more easily. Seems like it’s finally ending here in North Central MA. Still a bit of light snow and lots of wind, but the skies are brightening and the worst is done. I’ve got a couple pics and am going to head out in a bit to clear a better path for the dogs and take some more. I almost lost the basset hound when I let her out a few minutes ago. And the front of the house is worse. Can’t even get the front door open. Another born and bred New Englander asking, as I do every year around this time, why? But once Springtime blooms, I’ll forget the question for another year.
[highjack] This talk about New England weather reminds me that chemists are crazy. I think it’s from inhaling all those noxious fumes. There was a professor of chemistry who spent winters at the University of Connecticut and summers here on the desert where daily tempertaures are 115 F (46 C). [/highjack]
I live in Brighton (outside Boston), and our street isn’t ploughed yet. Some poor sap outside is trying to dig their car out of a four-foot snow drift. They must be doing it so they dont’ have to do it tomorrow or whenever they can get out, b/c they’re certainly not going anywhere in it today!
I wonder if my work will be open tomorrow? They rarely close for any reason, even snow emergencies :rolleyes:
I soooo don’t miss Massachusetts now. I grew up in Franklin. I was 5 months old for the blizzard of '78 and my mom was home alone with me and my dad was stuck at work. I guess the most snow I dealt with was the winter of '96 when it snowed every Wednesday and Saturday for a month. That was fun.
Yep, I think the winter of 96-97 was worse. Of course it’s still mid January so I should probably keep my mouth shut. That year we had a blizzard that took out our power for three days. I didn’t lose power at all this time. I think the snow was probably lighter cause it was so cold.
We in Albany ended up with quite a bit more than expected, too. They kep saying 1-3 inches, and on Saturday we did, indeed get about 3 inches.
Sunday morning I woke up to about eight more.
The roads are bad, too, or were when I went out this afternoon. Doesn’t look like they did much. I feel sorry for the churchgoers who had to get up early and clear their cars and navigate the roads, I didn’t go out until 2:30 and that’s what it was like then.
Keep a warm thought for my eldest offspring. She’s spending her first ever winter away from Texas at Boston University. She really loved Boston this past summer and fall. She’s rather less keen on it now.
Ah, yes, the shock of Boston winters can be rather daunting for those students who come here from less demanding climates. It does serve to thin out the herd of graduates who decide to stay.
The climate here is plenty demanding, just in the other direction!
Truthfully, she is planning on moving after the spring semester, and the weather isn’t the major factor (she says). Other more important reasons include high out of state tuition rates (and correspondingly high student loans), snobby rich students and breakup with bf. Of course when we asked her about the weather, she mentioned that outside her dorms is a bicycle rack and that only the tops of the handlebars are still visible. :eek:
Me and my friends are all hoping for cancelled classes tomorrow. I don’t expect to hear anything until the morning, our schools will do their best to stay open. (That said, we had 7 days off last year due to weather–2 right before reading week, and a full week off the beginning of October–resulting in a cancelled midterm and the only general extension on an essay in the known history of the course we were taking.)
I’m starting to think that Mother Nature is out to rival the three feet she dumped on us last year, just speading it out a little more. The last week has been nothing but snow, plow, repeat.
Last night I had to close at my job in Nashua, NH, meaning I was driving back to my parents’ in Waltham, MA at 10 freaking pm. My car only span out once on Rt. 3, and it was all because some moron in front of me locked up the their brakes because they accidently went over 25 mph (the road could take about 35-40 at that time). This was followed by shovling out the walk and cars while my father attacked the driveway with a snow blower at midnight. I still hadn’t eaten dinner. Then I got to wake up at 7 am to go with my father to get my mother at work. Then digging out of another 16 or so inches of snow, on top of the foot we had from yesterday. Oh, and then I moved back into my dorm. The highways are fine, the city of Lowell needs help, but only the sun and the coming of April will fix that. Oh I do love the snow, but not when I’m stuck at my parents.
I think that the cold last winter was the worst I have seen and the snow of the winter before that. It started in October and didn’t stop until mid April. Granted, I was just a kid during the bad winters of the early and mid ninties.
Oh, come on. 24-30 inches of snow in one dumping is pretty unusual around here. Especially when coupled with gale force winds. Allow us our bemused comments.
The next town over from us got just a couple of inches shy of 3 feet. I don’t know how they measure these things properly – the levels everywhere are affected by drift, and the drifts certainly go over 3 feet. We spent hours yesterday uncovering the driveway. The snow is more than 1/3 way up both the front and side doors. The Mayor of Boston declared a Snoe Emergency therre (which is still in effect), and the Governor declared a Snow Emergency for Massachusetts (which has since been rescinded).
The official Logan Airport sets this at 21.3", which doesn’t put it in the tyo[p 5 MA snowfalls, but every other reading in the city (and surrounding areas) places the snowfall over 26". I think someone at Logan is just screwing with the numbers.
