December 2008 Archives

After the weekend's snowstorm, I decided that we needed a team outing. One of our team members, Sridhar, has never seen snow, and hasn't the first idea what to do with it. So Judy and I decided to introduce Sridhar to snow sports, while Regina, who is working from Phoenix, will hold the fort at work.

We met at Alewife station, and proceeded to my home in Medford, where I had assembled a variety of gear. Snowshoes, boots in various sizes, warm socks, technical middle-wear, mittens, hats, fleece, etc.

We got our stuff on, and headed across the street, to Playstead Park, to practice with the equipment. You can see in the pictures how pristine the snow still was, now almost two days past the end of the snowfall.

	Sridhar all bundled up
	Judy and Elizabeth, warm as toast

After a complete circuit of the soccer fields, we were ready to have some lunch and head for the Fells.

The Fells is a conservation area created by land that touches four towns in Middlesex County: Winchester, Medford, Melrose, and Stoneham. I am very lucky to be within walking distance to the fireroad entrance at the Whitmore Brook area of the Fells. We started out walking along the brook, until we got to the junction of the Cross Fells Trail.

	Judy and Sridhar next to Whitmore Brook
	Hey, hey! Cut that out! No poking at the ice on the brook.
	Wetlands completely hidden by snow
	Trees were weighed down by so much snow that their tops were touching the ground. Sridhar of course tried to "free" as many trees as he could reach with his pole.
	Taking a little break. So warm from our exertions, jackets are opened and mittens stuffed in pockets.
	Come on lazybones. Catch up.
	I think Sridhar has gotten the concept of snow now.

We got to the top of Ram's Head Hill, but neglected to take pictures of the Boston Skyline. Since the daylight is so short now, we headed back the trail to Whitmore Brook, and home, arriving just before sunset at 4:15pm ET. After shedding all the gear and extra layers, we drove back to Alewife. However, we were enjoying ourselves so much, we stopped at Bertucci's for an early dinner, before disbanding.

Winter has come to Boston with a vengeance. It has been snowing for almost 48 hours. Snow started Friday afternoon, first flakes around 1pm. I'm estimating we got about 11 inches overnight, very light and fluffy snow. My daughter and son-in-law went x-country skiing in the Fells Saturday afternoon, in near-perfect conditions. I am fortunate to live very near the Fells, so I got to visit with them afterwards over hot tea and bean soup.

The snow continued lightly all through Saturday. Last night and early this morning, the winds increased, and the snow became heavier, and wetter. I'm guessing we've had another 6 inches today. Much harder to shovel though, more weight-lifting involved. Plus the piles are already high, so throwing the snow requires more height. Here are some pics from Friday night, and today.

	Friday night. Whiteout conditions, with very fine snow falling about 2inches per hour.
	Sunday, immediately after shoveling. There is no way to keep up with today's snow. It is heavy, wet, and basically blizzard conditions at this point.
	Views of my block in Medford. Plows have not come by all day today (Sunday) so a true winter wonderland.
	Looking the other way down the street