in corpore sano, or: \snow day/

[bironic]

Whee, a proper snowstorm! We've got about 20 inches, which appears to be on the low side for eastern Mass. today, and it's not going to end until sometime overnight. TBA whether we are expected at the office tomorrow or can work from home again.

Thankfully, the power stayed on, in part because at 10 to 20 degrees below freezing it's so cold the snow is light and fluffy and isn't bringing tree branches down on power lines even in the blizzard winds. So it's been cozy here: sleep, blankets, wool socks, tea, a bowl of "Dad's" fish stew. (I do half shrimp and half fish, plus celery and carrots. Mm.)

And although the gym is closed today, I got quite a workout digging out the car. It took more than an hour to clear one shovel's width around it. Here is a time lapse series for your pleasure/schadenfreude:

Last night:



This morning:



This afternoon:



Yes, that is a regular-sized shovel:



After digging out:





The Boston Globe has a decent photo spread of the city & surroundings, if you'd like a sense of how things look around here. Scroll down to the Pet Shop mural and the eerie-beautiful Brant Rock church in particular. ETA: And, as usual, the Capital Weather Gang in DC does a better job of discussing and depicting Boston weather than Boston does.

In related news, Boston Yeti and follow-up interview. Sigh/LOL, Somerville.

Comments

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

I am a little bit envious! We didn't get a ton of snow out here -- less than a foot, I think. It's pretty, of course, but nothing like what y'all got.

<3

[bironic.livejournal.com]

If you want to come visit, I'll give you a shovel! Ha. No, it's beautiful, as you say. Now to hope we're not pressured to go to work before public transporation is back online, and that residents / city workers are able to clear sidewalk paths wide enough for us to get places by the end of the week.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Of course -- giant snowbanks pose a different kind of problem in a city than they do here. *grin*

[bironic.livejournal.com]

It's going to be fun ("fun"?) to see how many snowbanks are taller than I am tomorrow when attempting to walk to/from the bus to work!

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

Holy smokes, the time lapse pictures are amazing! That is a damn lot of snow.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

If there were only somewhere to put all the snow when you have to shovel! That's what makes those towering border piles so impressive (and precarious). As you surely know, your area being no stranger to snowstorms. :) Or perhaps it's more of a problem in cities. Can't toss it back in the street, can't put it on the sidewalk (city mandates two feet of clearance), can't exactly dump it in your neighbor's front yard... Aie.

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

We have grass verges between us and the street, so there's usually someplace to put the snow, which is great. We have to get off the street altogether if there's going to be more than two inches of snow, and I'm lucky to have a driveway, so that helps. Sometimes I get my car stuck there, though, and it's a long driveway, so it's a lot of digging!

I do not envy you the shoveling you've had to do today. I hope tonight you can rest up and be cozy!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Laptop time and soon bedtime reading. <3

We are only allowed to park on one side of the street during snow emergencies. Luckily my car was on the right side. Well, "luckily" because that meant all I had to do was dig it out. If you can't find a spot, you can use municipal lots for the duration of the storm, but then you have to move your car back within a narrow window of time, which tomorrow would have meant skipping work. Blah blah boring, but gosh sometimes it would be nice to have a driveway or a spot in a parking garage. Though I don't envy you the driveway clearing, either. There is no winning with cars and snow!

[azephirin.livejournal.com]

NYC envies your blizzard. Although not your adventures in shoveling! Damn. I hope you get the day off tomorrow!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Delayed start! Pretty good compromise. Hoping the ride home won't be too too terrible since Boston schools will still be closed.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

That... was a comprehensively buried car. You deserve back-patting. Good job, you!

I haven't even gone around the back yet to check what the deal is with mine - I'm sure it's horrifying, though last time we had a snowstorm like this I took advantage of the way things drift down there and just crawled in through the back seat and backed the car out from under the, you know, eight-foot pile of snow on the hood.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ha! Nice trick.

It would have been nice to just leave the thing under there until ... uh, possibly several weeks from now, when it warms up enough to melt what fell. But that would be like waving a red flag at the bull that is city parking enforcement to write a ticket for not obeying the "move your street-parked car every 48 hours" rule. Plus, doing that once or twice during last year's relentless snow is probably how I ended up with rusty rotors.

...And by "I" I mean "the car." Although that would be some sort of cool AU.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know that temptation. I'm lucky, I have off-street parking now, so no one cares but me whether or not I dig the thing out. (Which I did today, by... climbing in the back and pulling it out. I got snowy boots all over my nice new car. Sniff.)

[flywoman.livejournal.com]

I think I'd like to try making the fish stew. How much celery and carrot do you add, and how finely do you chop them? Thanks!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ah, it's yummy. The clam juice adds something special, really brings it toward a chowder.

I do one onion, which usually yields more than the 1 cup the recipe calls for. Then a couple of carrots and a couple of celery stalks, to make approximately equal amounts of all three. I'd say everything is in a dice? The important thing is that they're about the same size as one another, so when I start the soup by sauteeing them, they soften at the same time.

Enjoy!

[flywoman.livejournal.com]

I'll try that. Thanks a lot!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

And I'd recommend WAY less olive oil, btw. Like, 2 tbsp instead of 6. Enough to coat the sauteeing veg and that's all.

If you haven't already made it!