Frigid Persistence

Front Yard When I  Got Home Last Night

Front Yard This Morning

Well this is fun.  We got another seven inches of snow over night, but at least spring is scheduled to start tomorrow.  I didn’t even bother to start my snow blower this morning.  I’m fully tapped out on that exercise in futility.

I did get some exercise though - shovelling!  Even though it’s scheduled to snow for the rest of the day into tonight it’s supposed to change over between rain and sleet (fun times) throughout the day.  That means the light, fluffy snow would be considerably heavier tonight.  I’m actually a little sneaky proud of myself for getting it shoveled as quickly as I did this morning.  Small victories in life are important.

As tough as this winter has been I’m also proud of my fellow New Englanders who’ve handled the repeated storms with typical New England toughness.  I used to hate living in Virginia and seeing everything come to a screeching halt with only a light dusting of snow.  Despite the heavy snowfall over night, the roads were plowed and people were out going about their business.  I hate the snow but I love New England.

Last night was moving day in the basement as I moved my wife’s craft center back into place now that the paint is dry.  I bought some concrete blocks to serve as table legs for the old kitchen counter that she uses.  This would replace the boxes we used heretofore.  There ensued a truly comical exercise, luckily witnessed only by a very concerned Buddy, as I tried to maneuver this very heavy and bulky counter into place by myself.  I thought of asking the neighbor for help but my male ego overruled that momentary weakness.  High adventure ensued but I eventually got everything into place.

I also had to move a couple of huge boxes which I thought contained old computer gear.  It turned out to be the mother lode of my personal library.  There were literally hundreds of books, some dating back to my high school years.

I’ve always thought of books as almost friends, always meaning to go back and re-read the book.  I think it’s fairly safe to assume that if I hadn’t re-read something I’ve carried around the world for thirty years that I’m probably not going to.  I actually felt a little bad for the books as they have lain dormant when books really should be circulated and read by other people. 

I was able to load about half of them into the car and I brought them to the local drop off place for donated books.  It was truly like saying good bye to old friends again, something I experience last year when I donated some other books.  I hope some teenager gets a hold of some of these science fiction novels and feels the same sense of magic I did. 

A semi-funny anecdote about the donation; as I wrote earlier in this blog my wife is not around to provide sartorial guidance.  Since I was doing some fairly heavy lifting in the basement I had on a pair of ratty of sweat pants and some moccasin slippers with some gaping holes in them.  I planned on changing into something more appropriate for public viewing but since I was pretty tired I forgot and just jumped into the car.  I was about halfway to the location when I realized I was attired in an outfit that would send my wife into a paroxysm of rage.  I just had to laugh.  Luckily no neighbors saw me during the half hour it took to load all the books into the bin but my feet in the hole filled slippers were barking a bit at the cold. 

The New Table Legs and Really Heavy Counter

The Mother Lode of Books Discovered

I Got About Half the Books into the Car
No - no picture of my Outfit - That Would Really Piss Her Off