Tag Archives: Boston

Feb25

Another snow day in January.. wait, no! February!

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02-Feb-2015

 

Here in Boston, we’re ready for it.

Wait, what are we ready for?  Shut up.  It doesn’t matter.  We’re wicked ready.  For anything at all.  Bring it on.

 

 

And then, we had a huge storm, that somehow magically skipped everyone else to bury us in fluffy white snow.  Cool.  Screw you, New York.  You thought you’d have it bad… we just went on with our lives when we got our snow and your snow combined.

And then, a week later, it happened again.

This is the story of it happening again.

 

Actually, that’s a pretty boring story.  It snowed.  From the sky, as one would expect.  It piled up, as one would expect.  I shoveled it, and the other folks who park near me let their cars get buried under another foot or so of snow.  I got cranky, then I got over it.

Basically, we kept moving on, as Bostonians do.  Driving was harsh, and I had to take a vacation day from work, but ya know.  It is what it is. And shoveling wasn’t even that bad, since there’d only been one storm, and the snow hadn’t really piled up too bad yet.

I would later come to regret having mentioned that.  But for now, it was all good.  I dealt with it, put on my heavy snow gear, and ran around the city in the snowy twilight.  It really is beautiful, when the snow sifts through the streetlights…

Feb9

A snow day in January

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A snow day in January

Right before the end of January, actually…

27-Jan-15

They said it was going to be a storm to end all storms.  A blizzard named “Juno”, for one reason or another, and that it would be the most snowfall that New York city had ever seen.  Boston would get the worst of it, of course, with nearly three feet of snow landing on my doorstep.

It’s never as bad as they forecast, of course.

But this time… it was pretty damn close, if I have to admit.

This storm was going to be the storm that ended all storms.  The forecast called for over three feet here in Boston, and it was supposed to be the single largest snowstorm to ever hit New York City – literally, in recorded history.  Worcester was going to get more snow than it had ever seen in a single day, and most schools had already decided to close far before the storm even arrived.

In truth… yeah, it was pretty brutal.  We dealt with it though.

New York City didn’t get much – not nearly as much as they thought.  Worcester did get hit hard – they broke their previous snowfall record, with over three feet landing.

Cambridge… we were fine, really.  There was a Travel Ban in effect, so the plows had enough room to move and clear, so that wasn’t really an issue.  My office was closed, so I didn’t even bother waking up until late-morning, and even then I didn’t head out to start shoveling until after I had a good breakfast and took some time to relax and let it digest.  In told, I think we got a solid 30-36inches of light and fluffy snow… there really wasn’t too much trouble with it, to be honest.

See, we hadn’t gotten much snow yet, so there wasn’t a problem finding a place to put the snow.  I just piled it up in my front yard, and to the side of my car in the empty spots.  It was nice and simple… a fun time.  Not to last, of course, but “the ignorance of youth” and such.  Either way, the shoveling only took me two or three hours total, to have my walk and parking area completely clean… so that left me a ton of time to relax and sip cocoa.

Or, it would had if I was that kind of guy.  Instead, I had a snack, put my gear back on, and ran back outside into the snow.

I explored all over the area… I’m honestly not sure how many miles I covered, probably less than three, but I had a blast exploring and playing in the show.  I got the chance to walk in the streets a bit, thanks to the travel ban, but I stuck to the walks for most of it… I have good boots and snow-gear, so I could slog through the fluff without getting soaked… and that’s half the fun of a storm, right?  I even spent a bit of time running back and forth on an abandoned Mass Ave, body-slamming my way through the huge snowbanks that had been piled up by the plows.

Note: one of the banks was a LOT thicker and more solid than I expected… and I may have ended up sprawled out in a tumbling roll when my legs stopped and my torso kept going.  Think a very awkward cartwheel.  In the snow.

May28

Screw it! I’m going on an adventure!

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Saturday, 10-May-14

(Ed Note:  This post links to the previous post “It’s not always bad when dates don’t go as planned…”, since that was when this was planned out)

I’d texted my adventure partner the day before, but was still waiting for a reply when I headed to bed on Friday… when that happens, you sort of have a feeling what’s going on.  I was right, unfortunately; when I did hear back at 9:30 (when we were going to meet around 10:30) it was to cancel out.

But you know what?  Screw it, I’m going alone – I want to do an adventure, and it’s a perfectly humid day out, and I am good company if I do say so myself.  So I’ll explore the river, talk to myself a bit, and hope that the other boaters on the river don’t think that I’m too crazy, heh.

 

  • Bike to breakfast, eat it, it’s excellent and starts me out right
  • Relax a bit, and call in to make sure I don’t need reservations.
  • All that’s left is to actually rent a boat and get on the water… once I do? My life finally transforms back into one that’s calm and relaxing.  This is what adventures should be like – physical labor, and a bit difficult… but un-stressed and fun.  I love just moving slowly down the river, and spend my time swapping between paddling hard, and letting the current carry me onward…
  • Lots of photo opportunities, and I take advantage of most of them as I paddle & drift down the river
  • Watch a rowing race by some high school teams, get yelled at by some standard-issue sports moms who are saying that I shouldn’t be near the river while they’re racing.  I’m honestly not convinced that’s true, but I’m not really in a position that it matters.  The banks of the river there border Storrow… which means that they’re high brick walls.  Not really an option to leave the river, even if I wanted to… which I most definitely did not want to.
  • Continue on, having water and snacks as I keep playing photographer
  • Once I get near the Longfellow bridge, I turn into the Esplanade, and get ready follow the route that Emma and I took before
  • Take a short break on the boat launch near the end – pull the Kayak out of the water, relax, and have a bite to eat
  • Get back in the water… shoot.  Maybe I should have put the paddle in first… now I’m drifting too far away, and it’s still on the dock.  Crap.  Just before I jump into the river to swim back, someone on the shore tosses it back to me.  Whew!  Note to self – remember the paddle next time!
  • I head inbound and explore the esplanade a bit, which is really fun and very beautiful…  Though I do have to dodge a few other boaters who seem intent on paddling on the wrong side, straight at me, as maniacally as they can.
  • Keep going on, and finally head in to the rental place and return the boat.
  • From here, I need to get back to Allston… roughly a 6 mile walk, via “an unknown road” as google has told me.  So I tie up my gear, clip it to my bag, put on some headphones, and start walking!
  • It’s a good walk, and it honestly doesn’t even seem that long.  I make a few phone calls, catch up with some people, and listen to a lot of music.  It’s nice, and I stick mostly to the North Bank of the Charles, which is one that I don’t usually spend much time on.  Always good to explore the road less traveled, even if it was only less traveled by you.
  • Finishing up the walk / kayak / adventure was a nice drive home – basically, a good end to a relaxing day.