a post-christmas blizzard visits :O

thankfully, the snow arrived the day after christmas! where it came from is something of a mystery for me because i don't remember hearing anything about a huge snow storm on the weekend horizon. given the heads up, i got in an easy 10 miler on sunday morning and the snow flurries arrived just after i got back home. if the snow fall was as predicted, that would be my last run for a day or so.

as forecast, by mid-afternoon it was falling fast - and accumulating. the most interesting news of the day (aside from the typical weather related items that accompany these events) was the rescheduling of the philadelphia eagles game from sunday night to tuesday. that prompted an angry newspaper reporter's outburst that called us a "nation of wimps!" now, that's an attention getter! i'm not in the business of defending the nfl. but i think it had more to do with fan safety (as in getting to and from the stadium during a blizzard) than on-field concerns about the players! anyway, once the giants continued their embarrassing slide into oblivion with another humiliating loss sunday afternoon, my football season was put to bed :(

getting back to the real business - snow: i woke up early monday morning (after a night of listening to the wind howl outside like a non-stop locomotive) to confront a foot and a half of snow that blanketed my front porch and driveway. i spent the better part of an hour digging out of that mess - and still hadn't touched our cars (not that we had any intention of driving anywhere that morning)! so i took a shoveling break and went back inside to warm up. in what turned into a marathon session on t.v. - the travel channel had anthony bourdain's "no reservation" queued up for the entire day!

after a couple of episodes of "no reservations" i went back outside and completed the job. not only did i knock off the cars, but i managed to tunnel my way to the backyard and shovel the deck as well. that second session of shoveling was enough cross training for the day. while i toyed with the idea of putting on my trail shoes and making an effort to log a few slushy miles (especially when the sun made an appearance in the early afternoon) - i was too caught up in bourdain's newest travelogue to drag myself back outside. so with a fridge full of leftovers - and some unfinished bottles of wine, i happily joined that erstwhile nation of wimps in front of the t.v., warm and totally sheltered from the howling wind outside :O

today, back in the office, after a somewhat icy drive to the station (where metronorth is running on a saturday schedule - hey, don't they know it's tuesday!) it's back to the grind. and i'm actually looking forward to putting on those trail shoes for a few slush-filled miles when i get home!