There’s a joke somewhere on the internet about how you can use your cat to tell how cold it is. At some point around freezing the cat gets friendly enough to let you pet him, below freezing he’ll actually cuddle with you, and at some point near zero the cat tears open your midsection while you sleep and warms himself in your viscera a la Luke on Hoth.
That’s not quite how it works in our house.
I bet you are thinking I am going to talk about dachshunds in the snow and such. Well, you don’t know much about our dachshunds, then. When it’s ridiculously cold outside, like it is now, just getting the dogs out to do their business can be a trial, especially if precipitation is in progress. So most of their winter activities consist of a) trying to stay warm, b) trying to get more food than they are normally allowed, and c) sleeping. Frequently a) and c) are combined.
Sometimes I hate the fact I have to shovel snow, not because it can be hard work (it often is) but because it ruins what is otherwise beautiful scenery.
Here’s a screenshot of my Weatherbug from a few moments ago.
So that is showing a temperature of minus 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill of minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit. I think this may actually be one of the coldest, if not the coldest, temperature I have ever experienced. And I don’t think it’s stopped yet.
Sorry to keep going on and on, but weather (and weather history) fascinates me so I am just geeking out about all of this. I am wondering if temperature records may be broken tonight or tomorrow.
-Geoff
It’s not often that I will use the phrase “bitter cold” to describe the weather in Greater Boston. But the temperature here has already fallen more than they thought it would tonight. Currently it is 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5, to be precise) with a wind chill of -16 degrees. That is bitter cold, at least for Cambridge or Boston.
And tomorrow was supposed to be the really cold night.
And that snow total just keeps on climbing, too. In fact, I may just have to use another term that doesn’t get tossed around much… snowpocalypseageddon.
Cue the dramatic music. Dun dun dun!
Maybe we need to worry about White Walkers after all. Wonder how much snow we will have by tomorrow morning. Not looking forward to shoveling.
-Geoff
The snow has begun, and we have already gotten a few inches, slowly and steadily, over the past 12 hours or so. I already shoveled the steps once this afternoon and already you can’t tell I ever did it. Even early this morning when I got up to make breakfast before Kelly had to go to work, we already had enough snow to coat everything outside.
And now they are saying we may get even more than they originally thought. I will get some pictures tomorrow once it has more or less finished.
In the meantime, I am doing some Portuguese home cooking. Maybe I will do some pictures of that too.
-Geoff
It is nice to not have anything to do today, except for dropping off our rent. It is a cold day outside, about 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and we have lots of cuddling animals following us around the house. And it is going to get even colder, and we are going to get a foot of snow by Friday, maybe a little more. A Nor’easter is coming our way and there may even be blizzard conditions for a while. That’s ok, as long as there are no White Walkers or wights.
Goodbye, 2013. May 2014 be a much better year for us all.
-Geoff
One of my favorite things about New England is the seasons. I love the seasons here, and how we actually have four distinct ones. The ground is now covered with leaves and the trees are mostly bare. We woke up this morning to snow coming down, although not very hard. More like heavy flurries, if that makes sense. It wasn’t really sticking either except for a few elevated surfaces. But it was still kind of cool to see. Just a sneak preview of the winter that is coming. At least for us it won’t last for years, like the poor folk in Westeros. The temperature today is not supposed to get much above freezing. Now, at 1 PM, it is still only 33 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s the sort of day to make you glad to be indoors, enjoying a good cup of coffee.
It is also the second anniversary of our wedding, and my brother Greg’s birthday as well. So happy anniversary, Kelly my love, and happy birthday big brother!
-Geoff
It may not be a winter that lasts for years, as it has been known to do in Westeros, but this winter has come a little early here in Boston this week, with temperatures not getting out of the 40s during the day and dropping into the 20s at night. We had to turn on the heat for the first time in a good while. And of course all the animals start getting a bit more cuddly at night, except for Rerun, who wants to be on the bed but otherwise gets a little grumpy if you invade his space.
Hopefully we will get back into the habit of more regular posts now, at least that is my intent. I think I will try to talk a bit more about some of the more interesting cooking I am doing this season.
-Geoff
Well, they said this would probably be a historical storm, in regards to the intensity and snowfall amounts, and it looks like that has pretty much held up to the predictions.
It turns out that this storm ranked #5 in the top ten snowstorms in the history of Boston, with an official total of 22.5 inches for Boston. Here in Cambridge it looks like our “official” total is about 26 inches.
The Books are Taking Over... 