I was looking at the Accu-weather forecast for Dunwich.\u00a0 There was a special miasmal ectoplasm alert on for the area (as usual).\u00a0 But the temperature forecast was eye-catching:<\/p>\n
Tonight: Clear and bitterly cold.\u00a0 Lo: 4\u00b0F<\/p>\n
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny and cold; the coldest day until next winter.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n That was an interesting statement.\u00a0 Now don\u2019t get me wrong.\u00a0 Hearing that it would get down to 4\u00b0F was in no way cheery.\u00a0 Single digits and below is a special part of the \u201ccharm\u201d of New England.\u00a0 Camera Girl and I prepare for this by stacking two hundred pounds of blankets on top of ourselves in bed and use snorkels to get air.\u00a0 So, no, I\u2019m not looking forward to tonight.\u00a0 But to hear that from now on until next year it will not be getting horribly cold again is like being someone trapped in a flooded building where the water line is only inches from the ceiling and you\u2019ve been dog paddling for dear life and breathing the last few inches of air for hours praying you wouldn\u2019t drown and finally the tide begins to recede.\u00a0 You experience a sense of relief and victory over a horrible enemy.<\/p>\n It snowed today but I waited until about 2pm and the sun came out and melted the dusting on the driveway.\u00a0 I went around trimming back the ten foot piles of snow along the edge of the driveway just to show them who\u2019s boss and how limited their remaining time would be.\u00a0 I think as I struck with my shovel I taunted the snow in a somewhat insane manner.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a long winter.\u00a0 The other day I was able to get the snowblower working.\u00a0 I poured warm water down the chute and like magic it was completely functional.\u00a0 So, all of the horror from last week was unnecessary.\u00a0 But uncertainty ruled and I didn\u2019t want to use up any time fiddling with the machine when I knew I barely had enough daylight to shovel myself out from a foot of snow.<\/p>\n But all of that is behind me.\u00a0 From now on melting snow will be the reality and preparations will begin for spring.\u00a0 Already we are preparing for the next milestone.\u00a0 St. Patrick\u2019s Day is coming up and Camera Girl will prepare her version of corned beef and cabbage.\u00a0 Lately she hasn\u2019t been boiling it.\u00a0 The cabbage is sauteed and the beef is pan fried but it still connects us with the patron saint of the city of our birth (before Mamdani installed the minarets on St Patrick\u2019s Cathedral).\u00a0 After that Easter is right around the corner and dare I hope some lamb could be on the menu?\u00a0 Camera Girl despises lamb.\u00a0 She prefers ham or pork for Easter but every once in a while, she\u2019ll provide a lamb alternative for lepers such as myself who enjoy a little flavor at Easter.<\/p>\n But all of this is premature.\u00a0 Tonight, I\u2019ll add another hundred pounds of blankets to the pile and we\u2019ll hunker down to 4\u00b0F one last time.\u00a0 And who knows, in a few weeks I might even start saying, \u201cBoy I hope it cools a little, I\u2019m stifling.\u00a0 Must be global warming.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was looking at the Accu-weather forecast for Dunwich.\u00a0 There was a special miasmal ectoplasm alert on for the area (as usual).\u00a0 But the temperature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3366,1263],"tags":[2416,164],"class_list":["post-36199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-life-in-dunwich","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-late-winter","tag-new-england-spring"],"yoast_head":"\n