the noreaster

The noreaster hit in the wee hours last night. Yesterday morning was clear and absolutely beautiful (we just don't get enough sunshine here in Massachusetts), and I think 10am was the warmest point of the day. High feathery clouds started sneaking in and the day got progressively colder. In the early afternoon you could definitely tell the noreaster was coming. It didn't start snowing while I was still up last night, but this morning it was, and church was cancelled as I expected. The forecast called it a blizzard so I was disappointed to awaken to tiny tiny flakes- I think each snowflake is falling down individually from the heavens. It's not at all like that blizzard we drove through in New Mexico when I was 12. That one had huge, fluffy clumps falling from the sky. I also saw clumps like that in a random snowstorm that hit while my brother, 2 friends and I were traveling in Korea. I love those big, fluffy clumps floating down. I only saw that kind of snow once in Boston, but it soon gave way to the little, icy dandruff flakes. Today the flakes are mostly small, but they are steadily burying Boston in pristine whiteness.

After assuring that church was indeed cancelled, I rejoiced in going back to bed. One thing I like about snow is that it mutes the ordinary sounds that echo off the hard asphalt and sidewalks in the city. Nobody walks around jabbering past our living room window on their cell phones when it's snowing, especially when it's snowing on a Sunday. So I got back in bed and soaked in the delicious silence. Unfortunately that didn't last long as my roommates soon got up. My room adjoins to the living room by a pair of sliding doors, which are utterly useless as sound barriers. (This is the one and only drawback of my room- in every other way, I think it's the best room in the apartment.) Unfortunately for myself, I prefer as dark and as quiet as I can get. This is unfortunate because most people I encounter just don't get that. They don't need dark or quiet to sleep, so why should I? I also like lots of sleep so try to go to bed "early"- early by the standards of any college or professional, not so early by the standards I was raised on as a child. So, when I manage to make it to bed by my goal time, and even when I go to bed hours after, sometimes my roommates will watch tv or have guests over or just talk to each other in the living room, which means they might as well be hanging out in my room pretty much. Anyway, to get back on subject, they all came out this morning and were talking in the living room. One roommate is very considerate and whispers and keeps lights off. One is semi-considerate: uses a low voice and keep the lights low. One just doesn't seem to make any effort at all. (I wouldn't trade any of my roommates- this is the only grievance I have with them.) Needless to say, my blissfully silent morning was ruined.

So I was a little miffed and antisocial - actually I'm still antisocial- I wish I could be peacefully alone today.

My bedroom window looks out down the alley that runs between our building and the next- I'm at the dead end of the alley. My peace was also a little disrupted as a couple men went by with shovels and cleared out the front of the alley so people can get to the trash bins. Now there's an ugly pile of snow at the other end of the alley.

It's supposed to snow solid til the early afternoon then slowly taper off through the evening. I hope we get the enormous amounts of snow they said there was the potential for. I mean, if I'm going to live somewhere that claims to have such harsh, nasty winters, I want it to live up to all the hype.

The snow is piling up on my window ledge. If I lean close to the glass I can see each intricate crystal balancing on the pile. I can also see each as it lands. I guess this is the benefit of each flake falling individually from the sky instead of those fluffy clumps that I love.

The window screens look like they are covered in cave popcorn, and the sides of the building look like a gingerbread house where the frosting oozed out when somebody squeezed the bricks too tight.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...