Recent Doings

We've had a succession of major snowstorms, roughly one a week. The latest ended yesterday. The good thing is that there has been enough time between each to do some clearing. The town has done a good job of removing snow from the principal streets downtown. But elsewhere, the snow just keeps getting piled up. Side streets are often reduced to a single lane's width. This isn't a complaint; it's all they could do. For residents, also, all that can be done is to shovel, snowblow, or plow into ever deeper accumulations.

I have a plowman who has kept my driveway clear, but he's had to create large piles at the street end, leaving about half the width open, while there is full width at the two-car garage door. His assistant shovel the walk to the street and sometimes to the driveway, and I shovel them when I need to get in or out before they get here.

After the first storm, I shoveled the front sidewalk (I live on a corner lot.) in stages from my property line about ⅔ of the way to the intersection, breaking through the windrows at each end so people could get in and out. The next door neighbor cleared the sidewalk in front of his house, but didn't do the 10 feet from his driveway to the property line.

After the second storm, the neighbor cleared that 10 feet, but I never got around to shoveling my sidewalk. As the third storm was winding down, I started shoveling the sidewalk. I was beginning my second session of "recreational shoveling" and had gone no more than 20 feet when a couple of guys came by in a truck and offered to do the sidewalk with their snowblower. At first I declined, but then I realized that it would take me hours to finish it, and agreed to hire them to do it for $40. The snow was maybe 4 feet deep where the snowplows had piled it, so they had to work as a team— one with a shovel loosening the snow and lowering it so the snowblower could handle it. It took them about 25 minutes to finish the job. The older guy gave me his phone number so I could get in touch with him to come back after the storm was over.

There wasn't enough for me to need them then, but I've called and I expect them to come and clear the sidewalk today. This fourth storm didn't fill in the path along the sidewalk, but it's deep enough that it needs to be cleared.


I took some pictures after the first storm, but then my camera gave me a message telling me to reinsert the memory stick. I did it several times, but it kept giving me the message. So I went to my i-Pod, which unfortunately doesn't give quite such clear images. Then, while I was describing things to my brother during his weekly phone call from Japan, I got the idea of removing and reinserting the memory stick while the camera was powered down (previously I had done it without powering down), and darned if that didn't work! So I've taken a number of pictures over the weekend.


On Friday the 6th, I was driving to the subway station when I began to need to go to the bathroom. I decided that I'd never be able to get to the restaurant, or even the subway station, so I turned around and came home. I dashed into the house and got to the toilet before my digestive system unloaded its contents. I haven't seen my house key since then. I don't think I dropped it into the toilet, but apparently I dropped it somewhere in my haste. Fortunately, I found a spare, so I can lock the door when I go out, but I wish I could find the first one so I can let the spare be a spare.

I've managed to get out a few times. First was dinner at a local restaurant on February 5th with a priest who used to be assigned to my parish and who was born a week before me. Then on the 10th I went to a new restaurant, which turned out to be better than I had expected. The food was very good. When the main course (a delicious steak) was served, the wine didn't show up to accompany it, so after a few bites I went back to reading my book. The owner came over and asked if there was a problem. When I told him I was waiting for the wine, he "comped" it. It's not something that would happen everywhere. All I expected was an apology and a speedy delivery of the wine. So this may become my regular local restaurant — not that I eat often at restaurants when I'm in town.

On Thursday the 12th, I went to Symphony. Because of various problems caused by the storm, the subways were spotty, so I left home earlier than usual, and got to Symphony Hall in plenty of time. I've written on my other blog about the concert itself. I figure every premiere, whether it's a world premiere or the American or the BSO's, is a once in a lifetime occasion, so I like to attend them if possible when they're at Symphony Hall with the BSO.

A group of us were planning to go to dinner on Saturday evening, but the weather forecasts led us to decide to cancel the plans. As it turned out, the storm wasn't too bad, and we probably wouldn't have had a problem, but given the forecasts it was wise to cancel. It was predicted to snow from Saturday afternoon until Sunday evening, but it was over by noon on Sunday.

Today (Monday) was very cold (below 20°F all day). The guys with the snowblower didn't call or show up, so I went out in mid-afternoon and began shoveling the front sidewalk. I got just a bit less than half of it done. Tomorrow I've got some appointments, and light snow is predicted, but I should be able to get it finished, or nearly so.

Last Week's Snowstorm and Other Stuff

Other Stuff First.  My kid brother is Japanese. He studied Japanese in college (uni to Europeans and antipodeans), spent time there before graduation, and went there to work right after graduation, in 1973. He's lived in Japan as a permanent resident ever since. So last year he finally decided to apply for Japanese citizenship. There was lots of paperwork needed (including stuff like our parents' marriage documents) and two interviews. He was told he'd have a decision sometime between April and September. Possibly the caseload was lighter than average or possibly he really impressed the bureaucrat who interviewed him, because on March 7 he sent us an e-mail with "subject: I'm Japanese!" I have mixed feelings. He's been there so long, and it is really his home, so it makes sense. But in a way it's sad that he's not going to be my fellow citizen.

I have a pound of ground lamb which needs to be cooked fairly soon (two days beyond last sale date) so tonight I'll be making meat sauce as I did for my spaghetti dinner  that I blogged about last fall. I'll add a leek to it and probably use mint and possibly marjoram in the sauce along with the other herbs. But basically it will be the same recipe and it'll give me sauce for three meals. Then for tomorrow I have three chicken thighs to cook. I'll probably use my method for baking chicken in sauce. This time, though, the thighs still have their skin on, and the only condensed soup I have is cheddar cheese. I have some swiss chard, which I'd probs cook separately, but could go nicely with some of the sauce on it. Also I might use a different rice product. But again, the basic idea is the same. The only problem is that it may turn out to be too much for one meal, but scant for two. We'll see how it goes. Right now, I'm thinking pasta tonight, Thursday, and next week some day; chicken tomorrow and Sunday.

Last Week's Snowstorm.  The forecasts said we might get a few inches of snow. The snow began falling Thursday mid-morning. For most of the day, air and ground temperatures were warm enough that I was tempted to tweet that it was "slushing." Although there was white stuff on the grass, it was melting on the roads and sidewalks.  I, the evening it began to stick, and when I woke up in the morning it looked like a real storm — several inches on the ground and coming down moderately heavily. My parish doesn't have weekday Mass when the town schools are closed because of weather. And the schools were closed. So late in the morning, I decided I'd better shovel some of the sidewalk. I did about half of the distance from my driveway, around the corner to the neighbor's property line. That took me about 45 minutes, at a pace which didn't involve heavy exertion.

I had to decide whether to go into Boston for the concert that evening. One forecast had been saying that snow would last until late evening. The other kept predicting that it would end by 3:00 p.m. If the former had been accurate, I might have stayed home. But when I went out at about 2:00 to finish the shoveling job, I found that it had stopped snowing. The depth of the snow varied from 12 to 16 inches — not as much as in our "blizzard" of a couple of weeks ago, but enough so that the house looked about the same as I looked at it from the sidewalk. So I decided against taking pictures, as they'd look so much like the ones from the earlier storm — I'm afraid I haven't gotten around to posting any of them, but maybe I will sometime soon. Again the shoveling took about 45 minutes. I'd use my shovel to define a square, then lift and dump the top half of it, followed by two more shovelfuls for the heavier, more compacted snow beneath. With that completed, along with a walkway from the sidewalk to the front door, I enjoyed a cup of hot, malt flavored Ovaltine to restore the calories expended. I'm inordinately pleased with myself for being able to handle it so easily as a 70 year old man.

Then I was ready for my trek in to Boston. Not only did I want to go to the Harvard Musical Association concert, but also I wanted to get to the Symphony Hall Box Office to exchange a couple of my subscription tickets. I can't go to the concert this Thursday because I need to attend a meeting here in town. So I traded that ticket for one to the same show on Friday afternoon. Also, I won't be going to symphony on Holy Thursday: I'll be in church that evening. I exchanged my ticket for one for the following Tuesday (which will include two pieces from the February 28 concert but a different piano piece with a different soloist). I had allowed what I thought was more than enough time for all that, but the trip back from Symphony Hall was slow and I got to the Scollay Square a couple of minutes after my reservation time.

Saturday morning it occurred to me, and a lot of other people, that we got through the storm with a lot less anxiety and a lot less disruption that would have been the case if the forecasters had known how big it would turn out to be. Who knows — a couple more like this and we could be hardy New Englanders again, people who take normal snowfalls and keep on going.

Snow — Blizzard of 2013 etc.

Here are some pics from my iPod, because my regular camera wouldn't turn on. I hope the quality isn't too bad.

First a couple from a light snowfall a few days ago. I like to have fun making patterns other than just straight lines, conditions permitting.

 

Looking up the street

Looking from the side door

Looking from across the street

Now for pics from the aftermath of the blizzard.

Back of the house

Between house and garage. The large pile in the foreground is from my plowman's work on the driveway. Hidden behind it, alongside the garage is an area about 6 ft. (or 2 m) wide — about half the distance to the back steps which the wind blew clear: the grass was glazed but visible.

The plowman shoveled the sidewalk from the driveway to the side door, and my good neighbors snowblew and shoveled the back steps and the area adjacent to them which the wind hadn't already done, but I still had to shovel the front walk because that's where the deliverer tosses the Boston Globe early in the morning. Just after I started, I decided I should get some pictures of how it looked before I finished the project. So that's when I took the two pics above and the next three.

Front of house, with shovel handle

Same from the middle of the street. I've only dug to the middle of the windrow left by the plowing.

Same, closer. As you can see, the wind scoured the roofs pretty well.

When I finished shoveling the walk — which took about 45 minutes, going at an easy pace, with frequent pauses of 10-15 seconds — I took the following pics from inside.

Kitchen window with snow on the storm window.

Front walk, with ice on the storm door — piles of snow from my efforts by the tree and to the left.

Then it was time to have a cup of malt-flavored Ovaltine.

Tomorrow, I'll have to cut a way through the windrow in front of the side door to provide access to the USPS letter carrier. It shouldn't take too long, since the walkway between it and the door has already been cleared, as I mentioned. I'm not sure if I'll also try to shovel the sidewalk along the street in front of my house.

Pot Roast; "Our Town"/Finding Someone

Pot Roast.  I cooked a pot roast on Tuesday. I had 3 1/4 pounds of chuck (shoulder meat) which I figured would give five servings. I sprinkled it with pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder. Then I browned it in olive oil on the stove top. Toward the end, I added some coarsely chopped onions which I had sprinkled with dried oregano and parsley. Then I sprinkled it all with dried thyme and a little marjoram, savory, and dill, poured enough boiling water over it to come about halfway up the roast, covered it, and set it in a 325°F oven. After a couple of hours, I turned it over and added 14 oz. of sliced carrots — peeled, sliced crosswise and lengthwise, and sprinkled with thyme. At that point I also poured a bit of Japanese soy sauce (maybe 2 tsp.) and sprinkled a bit of sea salt (maybe 1/4 tsp.) into the liquid. After another hour or so, I added four potatoes, peeled and cut into fifths (maybe 1 1/2 lb. after peeling) and let it cook for another 45 minutes or so.

Here's a picture of the roast and two servings of the veggies.

The meat was cooked to the point that it tended to shred when I tried to cut it.

Here's a picture of the herbs and spices. (not shown: soy sauce and sea salt).

BTW — I had bought the meat last week. It had a last sale date of January 17. I had thought I'd cook it on the 19th, but my brother wasn't here that evening. Then on Sunday he took me to dinner for a birthday (eve) celebration; and on the birthday itself some friends invited me to their place for dinner. So I didn't get around to cooking it until the 22nd. It was still perfectly good.

Bonus pic: snow on the spirea outside my kitchen window one morning in late December.

Click on photos to enlarge.

"Our Town"/Finding Someone.  Last week I went to a performance of the play "Our Town," by Thornton Wilder, about life in a small town in pre-WWI New Hampshire. The town has about 2,400 inhabitants, as I recall, and the central focus is on George Gibb and Emily Webb, who are high school classmates and next door neighbors in the first act and marry immediately after graduation in the second. In the third act Emily has died in childbirth and joins other decedents in the town cemetery.

It's a very good play, IMO, with much to think about. I saw it when I was in high school in a production by our drama department, and I had remembered some of it. So it seemed familiar, even when I didn't remember specific bits.

Anyway one point I've been thinking about is that the Stage Manager indicates that most people get married and go through life as a couple. Added to that is the fact that most people stay in Grover's Corners after they finish high school. George and Emily have known each other just about all their lives. Perhaps it's not inevitable that they get married, but it's not surprising by any means. More broadly, the play implies that almost all the young people in the town find someone to marry from within their circle of acquaintances. I'd guess that in a town that size, there would be no more than 100 people (of the opposite sex) within the normal age range for likely spouses. And that was enough for almost all of them to find someone to marry and go through life with.

Along the same line, I think of how things were when I was in high school. Most people were able to find someone to go steady with. It was a larger town than in the play, but I'm sure that if we all had stayed in town after high school, almost all of us could have found a spouse from among our contemporaries.

So that leads to my conclusion: "finding someone" does not depend on having a wide range of possibilities. If one is not excessively picky, "someone" can be found in a circle of acquaintances of any size. In fact, urbanization and social media may make it harder to find someone because it becomes easy to imagine that there is someone better out there, and to feel that it is not necessary to settle for someone who is basically compatible and good enough. Urbanization and social media also tend to impede finding someone by preventing us from focusing on a small number of people from whom we might choose; they draw us out of true community into a broad circle of acquaintances among whom we don't have a real opportunity to make connections.

Of course, I know that people continue to find each other, but I think it may not be as easy as it was in smaller communities (and perhaps the wider range of acquaintances also promotes divorce by presenting new possibilities after marriage has taken place).

Life Is Beautiful (At least It Was Wednesday Evening)

On Wednesday, it started snowing where I live. I wanted to go to Boston to hear a talk by John Harbison on Bach's "St. Matthew Passion." (I'm going to hear a performance of the work on April 1.) If I get around to it, I might write something about the talk on my music blog. After the talk, which was from 5:00 to about 6:00, I planned to stay in Boston and attend a concert at 8:00 at the Harvard Musical Association.

Because it was snowing rather than raining, I decided not to take an umbrella. You can just brush the snow off when you get where you're going. The snow gradually changed to rain, and it was fairly windy (but not quite enough to blow my hat off). I had a 5-10 minute walk from the subway to the lecture hall, and another back. From the subway to the restaurant was no more than five minutes. Then a good 10 minutes from the restaurant to the HMA. When I got there, the house was dark. It was then that I checked the announcement and found that the concert is next Wednesday. So another ten minute walk back to the subway.

Usually when it's snowing, I walk with my head down and slightly hunched over. But yesterday, I walked fully upright, with my head held high, getting the snow and rain full in my face, and enjoying it.

I've blogged before about feeling good as I walked on a warm fall evening. This time there weren't a lot of other people passing by, but it occurred to me that I was about as joyful to be there as I had been on the earlier occasion. Creation is good, and God is good, and life is beautiful (if unpleasant sometimes).

Photos Illustrative of My "Snow-Bound" Post

Back of house.

Side door.

Front door with snow-laden rhododendrons.

Looking down the street. My brother's car in my driveway.

View of the house from the end of the driveway.

Branch blown down in the two hours after I took the previous photos.

Spot from which the branch fell. Above the spot you can see a couple of other places where branches have broken off. I hope the tree doesn't get blown over onto my house.

Snow-Bound

Actually, I'm not snowbound. The snow, which started yesterday morning, will probably stop very soon. The town plows have kept the streets passable. My plowman has plowed my driveway (without hitting my brother's car! Yay!). The neighbor diagonally across the street has been out with his snowblower and cleared the sidewalk from the driveway to the front walk and the walks to the three sets of steps (and done similar favors for some of the other neighbors). Now all I have to do is shovel steps and porches, and maybe break through the windrows to allow access to the front and side doors directly from the street.

So, even though I thought of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, whose title I've borrowed, my situation is nothing like that in the poem. Here are a couple of excerpts, to give you a bit of the flavor of it — the opening lines, and some from somewhere later.

For Mirrorboy (and anybody else who wants to look)

Mirrorboy says that in his area of the Antipodes they don't get snow. So here are some pictures from my area of the Podes. The gray sky in four of them is what it's like during a snowstorm. The two with a clear blue sky were taken at 9:30 in the morning after an overnight storm. I think the snow sparkling in the sunshine on trees and shrubs on a bright, clear day is the best sort of snow scene. During the day, the sun's warmth melts some of the snow and it falls from the branches.

Click photos to enlarge, and I think they give a much better impression if you do.