PATRICK MCVAY

WRITER

My Musings

This text is currently hidden by a css change. Alow's me to go directly to the category description because it is editable in the front end,

Snow Blind

Snowy-Chilton-Road

Bostonians claim to be incredibly hardy when it comes to winter weather, but the truth is that the massive blizzard we were treated to this past weekend was a rare event in these parts. Yes, we get nor'easters ever few years, and this was a classic one, with wet air from the south merging with cold air in the north to create the huge counterclockwise swirl of wind and snow that dumped two feet on us. But for coastal Massachusetts, winter weather tends toward the drizzly more than the snowy, and the cold more than the frigid, without the lake effect barrage of squalls that harass Syracuse, NY every year, nor the negative temperature values that you see in Little Canada, MN.

I'm OK with snowstorms because I like to ski afterward, but the irony of this and many other winter nor'easters is that precious little snow falls in the mountains where chairlifts tend to be located. Instead, it falls on our driveways and sidewalks, where it needs to be removed, causing a great deal of strain on the backs, necks, arms, and legs of me and my fellow Beantown citizens. Some people choose to leave the freshly fallen snow right there on the walk, hoping that the sun will melt it away, but that scheme can backfire when the snow melts just a little, then freezes overnight. Now the two feet of innocent, fluffy snow is transformed into evil patches of ice. The only people who benefit from that are personal injury lawyers.

My family did our snow removal via shovel, both the push variety, which acts like a plow, and the bent-handled sort, where you pick up large masses of snow and toss it onto your neighbor's driveway. Shoveling is better for the environment than a snowblower since no fossil fuels are burned in the process, but after a few hours my back screams for mercy and I'm tempted to go to the Home Depot to see what's left. I admit that we did get assistance from a neighbor with a screaming two-stroke gas-burner, who creating a narrow alley on the sidewalk for dogs to leave yellow stains in the pristine snow and letter carriers to deliver much needed fast-food flyers.

I was appreciative, of course, and handed over my small can of gasoline for when he ran out of fuel, as well a couple of quarts of homebrew from my keg fridge for when it was time to head back inside and put his feet up. The pandemic is still present and we don't do a lot of entertaining these days, so someone has to help me drink the beer. 

Continue reading
  681 Hits

 

 

J'Biden Era Haikuage

 

People's Arms. That's right!

200 million shots

In 100 days

 

We are good people

But we still have far to go

Repair. Restore. Heal.

 

There's nothing new here

The Affordable Care Act

We're restoring it 

 

America's Day

Democracy is fragile

The world is watching 

 

Strategy is based

On Science, not politics

Truth, not denial

 

 

Subscribe To The Blog

Produce This Audio Play!

Ever wanted to produce a radio play?  Think you have the mettle?  Read on!

Tag Cloud

Politics As Usual Guns and Ammo Bicycles Beer Audubon Bar Christmas weather Trump Existential Crisis US Senate town square Cars Fiction Email People I know Folk Music Snow Guns Them Kids curling shoes My grandparents Mustard Scotch and Sirloin Grass Skiing Imaginings Liz Phair Spoon the band Audio the future COVID-19 Religion vacation Allergies Golf Bands I've seen Zoom The Old Days Bands I've Seen Reveillon Red Sox Syracuse Bands I haven't seen New England Boston soapbox rantings Food Art Canada Vaccines Putin Hand Planes Canadiana First World Problems Hot Air Balloon Car Dealerships Me Sugarbush Hache Verde the sea Wind Mike Doughty tambourrine The future Weather Martinis Royal Stuff BB King Big Shoes Soup Climate Change COVID Knots Texting gathering throngs Quebect Tom Waits Ticketmaster Things I've done Good Reads China Rabbit Hole Drumming My Estate Mass General Hospital Work War and Peace Cornhole star Hawaii coronavirus afterlife punk music Bill Monroe Eclipse technology baseball Pats Yeast seasons midwinter vacations Theater When I die Ice Dancing Cats Advertising Marketing Gimmicks Mom and Dad Brain Surgery Skiing Elvis Presley TV Higher Education NPR nukes plan mid-winter vacations Rock Bands Coyotes Chowder Vaughn Spice Girls Plastic Stairs Biden Soviet Union Skating Bob Dylan acerbic high school principal Earth My Parents My sisters Belgian Ales The Future 1980s Eating and Drinking Barber Shops Dad advice Hurricanes Communication Channels Accounting Bunker Joan Jett Soul Coughing Peacekeeping The Past cornhole Ukraine Roommates I've Had Bodysurfing Music high winds Sports Godfather Ketchup Bikes Diseases