Snow

We get a lot of snow here in New England. Most winters are spent anticipating it, watching it fall, shoveling it and then waiting for more. Some years, it never quite melts before the next layer falls.

Some people romanticize snow. They yearn for a white Christmas and revel in the sight of the white stuff when it blankets the ground early on a winter morning. Kids, of course, pray for enough to create a "snow day" when they can spend the day sledding instead of listening to boring lessons at school.

I don't fall into either category. I'm not really partial to snow. For me, although it can at times be pretty, it's more about the time I have to spend out in the cold as I make sure a car can get into our driveway. Naturally, as soon as I get all of it scraped to the sides, the plows come by and leave a 2 foot pile at the end which has to again be shoveled away. So far this year, I haven't had to shovel snow much. We've had some snowfall, but also long periods of warmer weather which keeps the driveway clear and the streets dry. Last year, there were days when it was so cold that it hurt to breathe the air and shoveling snow was quite a chore.

For everyone who enjoys snow, I hope you get to dig through lots of it this winter. For me, it's my last winter in New England. Since I will soon be moving to a much warmer climate, I might in the future miss the pretty moments of a new snowfall, but I won't miss shoveling it, driving in it or slipping and sliding on the way to the mailbox.

A Fresh New Year

It's the new year. 2006. Happy New Year to you all. After spending Christmas with relatives in the Pacific Northwest, we returned to Massachusetts for the new year and woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow on the ground. It's certainly a beautiful beginning for a fresh new year.

We enjoyed our trip to the tiny town of Snohomish, Washington even though it rained every day. It's a pretty place, even wet, with antique shops and little restaurants lining the main thoroughfare. Three of the restaurants we sampled were an English style pub, Mexican and an Italian eatery. All were wonderful.

As always, getting together with family for Christmas was a great experience. We actually all get along very well. This year we introduced our new son in law to the group and he fit right in when everyone sat down for the annual post Christmas family poker game. The game of choice this time was Texas Hold'em. The new guy did pretty well.

A short side trip to Portland, Oregon to visit a few more family members rounded out our holiday journey and a couple of days later we boarded a redeye flight back to Boston to return home.

Now we've welcomed in a bright new year. For once, I have no need for the usual "lose weight" resolution. To all of you who make that resolution, I wish you the best of luck. This year I'll be sorting through a houseful of belongings, deciding what to keep and packing everything for our move back to Southern California.

For the present, I'm going to sit back, relax, maybe shovel a little snow and enjoy the beginning of a new year. Time to count my blessings and work on changing what I can for the better.

Happy New Year.