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.

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.