GREATER BOSTON IS ASSURED OF A 2009 WHITE CHRISTMAS

A few months ago I quoted the Jewish saying, 'You can't control the wind but you can set your sails." Well today it became apparent once again that we can't control the weather, either. Click here. Fortunately, lucky for us, we were on the tail end of this receiving line and fared the better for it. The snow was light, dry, and fairly easily cleaned out of the way.

Not so for those who were south of us, however. From New Jersey on south through Washington, those not used to snow to any appreciable depth never know what to do with it and, least of all, drive in it. I recall being in Quebec City a few years ago and seeing snow piled more than a story high on either side of the road. It brings home that people can learn to do deal with almost anything when they are forced to live with it year after year. Necessity forces people to adapt and survive. Those who can't, move to Florida and live with alligators and bugs for the joy of being exposed to the sun and risk cancer or lathering themselves all day with sun block. Otherwise they are doomed to stay indoors all day with the AC turned on full blast.

It is hard for me to imagine how one can really miss snow though a Georgia friend of mine writes how he wishes they would get some cooler weather and snow. I guess it proves the grass is always greener in the other person's yard. However, a wise patient of mine once asked, "Yes, but are you willing to do what it takes to keep it green?" That was a very profound question because we so rarely think that far.

THE SNOWSTORM

The world continues to harp on political trivia. Was Hillary sincere? Was she being unfair to Obama? The debate was a tie but Obama was clearly the winner because he wasn't the loser. Someone sees a silver lining, another sees a miracle on the horizon. Other talking heads say the debate was a 'ho-hum', just not interesting. Of course not, it wasn't meant to be entertainment! Will the media never learn how dispensable they all are? How does a shut in spend the day and fill the air space when TV is unwatchable and infuriating?

Near mid-day it was clear there was no joy in Mudville. I decided to shovel the snow (phase one) to get the fallen two inches cleared from the walks and parking areas even though it was still snowing. The hope was to get out there before someone trampled the snow down with icy footsteps that instantly freeze in place and can't get shoveled up. Not a lucky day. Mail had already been delivered. No doubt the mail-person had the same idea...get it over with before the snow gets too high. The snow continued and by late afternoon another four inches had fallen.

I raced out to shovel again, before my grandson arrived to park a friend's car in my yard, off the street in front of his apartment, to prevent the car being towed. This time I thought I was forewarned, but hadn't predicted a UPS delivery man had trodden on the walk. Oh well, I muttered in resignation, and scraped as much as possible before anyone else arrived to crunch icy lumps on the walk.

Back indoors again, in the warmth, I began to watch some of the movies I had recorded on my computer so that I could then delete and make space for more of them. This was interrupted by an hour long phone call from a friend, as the computer in front of me blinked weather alerts for my town. By 11 PM, the computer had ceased giving weather alerts, so I looked out and saw some fluffy clouds on the horizon (bright moonlight), All precipitation had ceased. Yet it was too early to cheer. Back to the computer for the latest update, more precipitation was predicted until tomorrow afternoon at which time the sun will magically appear. The icicles hanging off the front bow window, dripping water as though it was below freezing out, mayl have a new outlook on life by morning.

The nice part of the day is that it was so guilt-free. It is such a reward to be a prisoner at home (my favorite place to be in the whole world) and while I didn't get any of the things done that are required, I did all the things that relaxed me. It felt like the kid I once had been whose school day had just been called off because of bad weather. Sadly, I didn't have my siblings there to make tunnels with blankets over the dining room chairs laid on their sides. Of course, that would have been at least the day before yesterday, plus a few decades.

15 HOURS OF DIFFERENCE

Yesterday was a lovely warm day during which lots of snow melted and some got chopped away preparatory to weather reports actually being accurate (which they seem to be these days, more often than not). We were to expect a 8" to 12" of snow during the night. In the morning, schools had been canceled and once again the 'weathercasters' didn't disappoint.

Today, approximately 15 hours after the above picture, things in Nature were looking decidedly different. There are not too many things lovelier to watch (from the warmth inside the house) than fresh, clean white snow. However, in this semi-urban area, the whiteness is gone after a few blinks of the eye. A few snowplows, a bit of traffic, a few dogs being walked, it doesn't take much to turn the landscape into something that no longer resembles a postcard. It took several hours to shovel the parking area and walks and to clean off the cars.

During the shoveling, the power went off. Things weren't as beautiful to look at after the shoveling, the now dirty snow piles, and a house getting colder and colder while trying to decide what to do without electricity. It doesn't take long to realize that everything you had planned for the day requires an electrical appliance, light, or a computer. Since there is still an upright piano in the house, fairly in tune, that got its first workout in a long time.

Before I had sunk to the gutter of total power-withdrawal symptoms, panic, and all....the power company managed to return normalcy back to my life, well, at least that which passes for normalcy in MY life.