Firstly, let me say that just because I currently live in New England, I haven't acquired a "that's not a lot of snow, y'all" attitude. I did grow up in Alabama, so I do understand the Snow Mentality of the South. I spent a good deal of energy a few weeks ago explaining to Northern friends why Birmingham and Atlanta had so much trouble with the unexpected snow and why it's not fair to mock them for it. It was exhausting.
Snow days in New England are so different. It's more like snow days in Ukraine were...only a little more convenient. Obviously, there is a lot more road-clearing equipment here than in the South. A couple of weeks ago, we got about 10 inches of snow. About an hour after it had started snowing, plows were already on the move, and salt was being dispensed. Sidewalks were being cleared just about every hour. You'd think that it would be a waste of time to clear the sidewalks (or driveways) when the snow is obviously still falling and is supposed to continue falling, but when you're going to get that much snow, it is helpful to clear as you go. Otherwise, you end up doing a lot of really cold work for a long time. We know this because we had to dig our car out the next day.
We took this one to show the accumulation on the car so far...it was still snowing at that point and continued for about 12 more hours, off and on.
I made this tiny snowman for Claire. It was about 5 inches tall. She thought it was great.
We were helping brush snow off of the car while Brad was hardcore shoveling around the tires.
Fun facts: a) If New Englanders know a big snow is coming, the flip their windshield wipers up after parking. This is so they don't get buried and frozen by the snow. The first time we saw this going on, we thought someone was pranking all of the cars on the street. We figured it out the next day. b) If you live in a snowy place that salts the roads regularly, you need to be sure to have the undercarriage of your car washed regularly. The salt will rust and corrode important car parts. Brad tries to get ours washed every six weeks. c) There is no street cleaning during the snowy months. This means you don't have to be conscious of where you're parked and when you have to move your car. All. The. Time. I love it.
I'm not sure you can see it really well, but if you look closely, you can see the windshield wipers of the blue car standing up.
There are also very few "snow days" taken around these parts. Things have to be really bad for schools to close or for the T to stop running. The 10 inches in less than 24 hours did it, but the 8ish inches yesterday didn't. It's a completely different world than living in a place that has no real way to handle that kind of weather. There were literally quarter-sized snowflakes falling (and sticking), and nothing was closing down. At least in the city...in further out-lying areas, they got more snow than we did, so there were closings further out.
The view from our front window.
Playing in the snow is also really different here- at least in the city. Nobody really has yards, so snow accumulates on the sidewalks, streets, and on buildings and cars. There's aren't snow angels being made, and there are very few snowmen. There just aren't really places for this to happen in the same way they happen in southern lawns.
I did capture this awesome snowman on a walk down Comm. Ave. I'm not sure you can tell from the picture, but that snowman is about 5-6 ft tall. I call him Olaf.
It's interesting to me to see the different philosophies of snow. Southerners rarely get any but take full advantage of the snow they get (i.e. snow angels, snowmen, snowball fights, snow cream). New Englanders get more than they need but don't participate- at least not with the same level of enthusiasm- in snow activities. Part of that is because of the lack of yards, and part of that is because of the lack of snow days. Oi. What a pickle.
I had a difficult relationship with snow in Ukraine, primarily because the weather was so gray and dreary, and the snow was everywhere and never ending. I was always walking in it, standing and waiting in it, and tracking it everywhere. I've mellowed in my attitude toward snow. For one thing, I don't have to walk in it as much. For another, Boston isn't as gloomy, on the whole, as Ukraine. In fact, the sun just burst through the clouds as I wrote that last sentence, never mind that there is a ton of snow everywhere.
This puts me in a great minority, but I'm not actually wishing winter away as vehemently as others. I rather like having sweater weather instead of sweating weather. Brad thinks I'm completely out of my mind...but he loves me anyway.
I hope all of my southern friends were able to enjoy their snow to the fullest!
Views on our street.
Down to the right.
Down to the left. #whoasnow
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