Yesterday, we had our first snowfall of the season. Didn’t amount to much but made the neighborhood magical this morning. (Note: I’ve been reading too much L.M. Montgomery when I use “magical” in a sentence.)
Front porch. This morning.
I grew up ten miles from the shore in southeastern Massachusetts. I remember two hurricanes, Gloria and Bob. Gloria knocked out power for a week and Bob knocked over our Catalpa tree in the backyard. I can still see that Catalpa bending over, nearly kissing the ground for a good three hours before the CRACK of the trunk announced its’ final death throttle.
Silly me for thinking that nestled in the hills between the Adirondacks and Green Mountains, far from Long Island Sound, that our humble abode would not be lashed with torrential rains and blustery winds from Irene.
So today, Thursday, I’m going to drive down to the local Hannaford’s to pick up water, batteries and food that doesn’t require refrigeration (just in case). I’ll be one of those earlier Yahoos and not the latter Yahoos emptying the shelves like a chicken with her head cut off.
You knew this would happen…I present to you those crazy boys from Deutschland:
Upstate New York (and pretty much everywhere else) is under an “Excessive Heat Warning.” Yesterday, while driving around in my air conditioned 2007 Toyota Matrix, I was listening to the news. A spokesperson for the Red Cross was interviewed about how to deal with the heat. She said the usual things, “stay out of the sun, keep the shades drawn, check on elderly neighbors…avoid heavy meals…”
Avoid heavy meals?
Avoid heavy meals?
Let me type that one more time.
Avoid heavy meals?
Never have I heard that in all my life. Is there nothing busybodies can’t do?
I think I’ll crack open Mastering the Art of French Cooking and invite Ms. Red Cross over for a four course meal.
With the shades drawn, of course.
Date: October 16, 2009.
Place: Leominster, Massachusetts.
Time: 7:00 am – 9:20 am.
Unusual Event: Snow.
Yippee!!!
Posted in Leominster, Massachusetts, Weather
Tagged Leominster, Massachusetts, Weather
Here in central Massachusetts, it’s the third day in the row of snow! It’s lightly snowing now but it’s suppose to ramp up in volume as the day drags on. YIPPEE!!!
Hubby is still fighting his head cold/flu/whatever-it-is. Yesterday he went into work and completely lost his voice. Getting smart, he called in sick today. But the good news is his mucus has turned from yellow to green, which means it’s breaking up. Hopefully he’ll be good to go for Christmas.
Enjoy the snow!!!
Old Man Winter
Posted in Weather
Yesterday, Hubby and I drove down Route 12 through Sterling and West Boylston. Boy, they got slammed by the ice storm. Huge limbs were strewn all along the road. I didn’t see any home damage but there were many “close calls.” Our destination was O’Connor’s Pub in Worcester. Due to the power outtage, they were closed Friday and Saturday nights. When we were there the cable was still out. Actually, it was nice NOT having the large screen t.v. glaring down. Not that the sound is turned up ever but it made people TALK to each other. Ya know?
Hold your breath! Snow's comin'!
This morning I spent my time cleaning and doing laundry. Now I’m drinking a bit of Egg Nogg and cruising the Net. And what do I find? What shock!!! More snow is coming to New England. Yikes. Imagine having no electricity and heat and now there’s a snow storm coming. It’s been a miserable week for many. Keep them in your prayers.
Yah, so Hubby and I lived through the Ice Storm of 2008. We didn’t lose power or heat but we did lose cable t.v. for 24 hours. Just imagine living without Ghost Adventures or Paranormal State. Oh, the humanity!
O.K., it wasn't THIS big.
The craziest storm-related incident occurred Friday night. Resigned to a night without Ghost Adventures, Hubby and I sat by the glow of the Christmas tree, drinking tea when suddenly we heard an explosion in the woods off to the left of our condo. I swear! It was an honest-to-goodness EXPLOSION, followed by several loud pops. Our holiday lights flickered but remained on. We figured that a tree or the hard rain damaged the unmanned electric power station situated in the direction of the explosion. We never heard any sirens or saw any flames. Freaky.
The other storm related incident happened at Mass. By Saturday night, downtown Leominster was still dark. The church (which Hubby and I are just starting to attend) lies north of downtown and was without power, as well. Before this Gaudete mass, I thought, “How cool! To have mass in the dark with candles…excellent.” It would be like midnight mass, but without the midnight. Except, it wasn’t cool. Skipping the procession, the priest and attendants just took their place around the altar in a haphazard fashion. The priest announced, “To get you all home before dark, we will keep the mass short. We’ll skip the homily, Creed, and intercessions.” Huh?!? The third advent candle wasn’t even lit. It could have been so reverent and worshipful. We could have pretended to be early Christians worshipping in the catacombs. The place was packed, so it seemed to me people wouldn’t have minded a “real” mass. Less than 30 minutes later, Hubby and I left in a cranky mood. I don’t think we’ll be making this church our permanent place of worship. Doh!
I took a few pictures of the area around our condo when the rain stopped. Take a look on Flickr.
Posted in Leominster, Massachusetts, Weather
Tagged Ice Storm, Leominster, Massachusetts
Yippee!!!
On Monday, while visiting the In-Laws in Webster, MA, kick a$$ brother-in-law drew my attention to the window. Overhead was a humungous, dark gray cloud and falling from it were scattered snowflakes. The cloud was surrounded by blue sky and sunshine. It reminded me of something out of a Dean Koontz novel. (I just finished The Taking by Mr. Koontz where aliens controlled the weather. The whole thing ended up being a space age Rapture. I thought it had a sucky ending but Father Longenecker liked it.)
Anyhoo…winter is coming.
The one thing I love about central Massachusetts are the fantastic summer storms. Seeing the black clouds massing behind Mt. Wachusett makes me all giddy inside. Last night Hubby and I turned on the Weather Channel and a short, dull-keyed alarm signal washed out whatever Abrams & Bettes was saying. Along the bottom of the screen, a red bar scrolled a warning that the National Weather Service had issued a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH for our area.
Eagerly I looked out to see the trees bending in the wind and our SUBURBAN OASIS table umbrella doing the same. “Hubby,” I asked, “could you put the umbrella in the shed?” For the purposes of this blog, I’ll record that Hubby LEAPED off the couch and swept out onto the patio just like Mercury. As a dutiful wife, I joined him putting away small items. At one point we had our hands on the heavy umbrella pole to lift it out of the stand.
Let me repeat: We had our hands on a long, UNGROUNDED, METAL ROD at the same time a white flash of lightning lit up the Leominster sky not that far away from us. Hubby looked at me and uttered, “Fertilizer!!” (use your thesaurus). We got everything inside the shed and ourselves inside the house.
The experience has not put me off summer storms. In fact, today there is another SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH for our area and I can’t wait!
