Blizzard Ramblings

-For the second time is as many weeks, this region was hit with over a foot of snow. Now, you would expect me to complain about it, but I'm not really going to because I am very aware of two things: 1. It is winter and 2. I live in New England. Therefore, I can't be shocked. And, actually, this isn't the snow that bothers me. When there is this much snowfall there is actually a banding together of groups with the understanding that we are all in this together. People are usually pretty understanding when you tell them you are going to be severely delayed. No, the snow that drives me crazy is when there is only two or three inches on the ground, because that is when you have to ask yourself whether shovelling is even worth it. However, there is simply no driving over this much snow, especially not when the plows have constructed a four-foot wall of it at the end of the driveway.

-I did have one winter miscalculation: a couple weeks back my father wanted to bring in all the Christmas lights. I was not in the mood to get up on a ladder that particular weekend and told him we would do it later. Well, since that weekend we have had two storms that have buried the bushes and lights under a combined 30 inches of heavy, wet snow. Hopefully I'll be more open to bringing the lights in around April, because that will most likely be my next chance.

-We have one channel on our cable provider that is nothing but the local Doppler radar. There are no weathermen to tell you what you are looking at, just a straight look at the radar and the chance to listen to some smooth jazz. This is actually one of my favorite channels, because sometimes that is all I want to see. However, because the channel is clearly automated, sometimes it doesn't make those necessary human leaps of deduction. For example, right now Logan airport is shut down - no planes are getting in or out. Technically, since everything is cancelled there are no planes leaving behind schedule and the channel reports no delays leaving the airport. It is moments like this I no longer fear a Terminator-like rise of the machines.

-Speaking of the airport, they are making a big deal of telling everyone that Logan Airport is open, even though no flights are coming or going. That, to me, sounds an awful lot like a place that is closed. If you went by a store and people could go in, but no one was allowed to buy anything (which is the only reason the store exists in the first place), wouldn't you just say the store was closed? I mean, you can go into Logan if you wish, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have an affinity for paying $5 for a bottle of soda.

-It was actually the strong winds that woke me up this morning. At that moment they were blowing the snow to near white-out conditions - I couldn't even see the end of the driveway. I then turned on my computer and went to my email, only to find several websites had sent me emails about the latest warm-weather golf trips on sale. One of them specifically pointed out that it was in the 70s in Arizona yesterday afternoon. While I'm not going to be booking a trip anytime soon, I did want to take a moment to salute them for the smart marketing techniques.