Full Circle
03/01/15 07:58
Welcome to 2015 ya'll. There is not so much as a lick of snow on the ground but that may change later today. Not sure that I care one way or another. It's the first weekend of the new year and we're off to a fresh start or so it seems. I'm reading a book entitled, "The Goldfinch" and it's not bad. I wouldn't ordinarily pick up and start reading a book with 800+ pages but I'm halfway through it and it's quite readable. Not sure where it's going quite honestly but I guess I'll find out. I'm also not a huge fan of fiction but these days I'm less interested in what it is than how it reads. I was telling Nancy the other day that there are few things in life more satisfying than a good book and there is nothing that satisfies like a good book satisfies. Nancy has recommended books that I put down after reading a paragraph or two and then there were others I couldn't put down. And while I wouldn't consider myself a "reader" I may well be reader after all is said and done. That is to say, if I have a good book to read then I will most certainly read it to the end as long as that takes. As for Goldfinch, I'm not even sure that the story itself is all that intriguing but the way it reads keeps me coming back. It is also not one of those books where I feel the need to know how it ends just to stay motivated to read it. In a world all too uncertain, there is satisfaction to be taken in finishing things that you start. It's that full circle thing that your parents and grandparents worked so hard to instill in you when they insisted that you put things back in their rightful place after using them. Tools come to mind and to this day I don't do that well. I've come to like these "Goldfinch" characters all the same and will miss them when I'm done with the book. And I will be done with it sooner or later.
We've gone from having no snow to having a lot with more in the forecast. It snowed for the better part of the day yesterday accumulating 7-8 inches or maybe a little more over the course of 12 hours. It was touted as a fast mover at the outset so I was surprised to see it still sputtering some 12 hours after it started. My game plan yesterday was to clear it all away in passes with the snowblower throughout the day. The trigger more often than not was telltale sound of the town snowplow making its way down our dead end street. I was a bit worried that the snow would become heavier over the course of the day so wanted to stay ahead of the storm by getting out often. My darling neighbor, a woman in her early seventies and robustly independent, is spending the winter here after spending the last few in Arizona so I did my best to clear the snow away at her home as much as I could to ease her burden. She has a snowblower but it is a large machine and not well suited for an elderly person who otherwise finds taking her octogenarian Jack Terrier for a walk to be a chore. Don't get me wrong. This very same woman purchased a Harley Davidson motorcycle last year and one that was larger than the one she owned the year before. Nonetheless, the energy and muscle required to move mountains of snow can be considerable so I was happy to offer mine. You worry a little about setting precenent and all the rest when it comes to snow removal but it's nearly February so I'll not concern myself with such things. If I thought it possible, I would have Evan take up that charge but it is not a task befitting him at the moment so we'll not pursue that in any meaningful fashion.
And then there is Nancy's mom and all that needs to be done at her house. It seems we have all we can do sometimes to clear a path and remove the snow from her car so she can move it back across the street and into her own driveway. Despite the seemingly endless snow falling across southern New Hampshire yesterday, we saw to it that we got over to her house around 5 in the afternoon or so to check in on her and get her out for a ride into town if that worked out. Her driveway had not been cleared so we picked her up and went into Portsmouth where with all the city lights and drifting snows made for a winter wonderland effect. The traffic for a Saturday evening was scant indeed and some restaurants had not even opened which seemed surprising. While the storm made for difficult travel, it had not accumulated in any appreciable way so sidewalks and side streets were indeed passable and in reasonably good shape. We found a parking spot directly in front of the Irish Pub in downtown Portsmouth and waltzed around the drifts to get to the restaurant where the crowds were spirited and seemingly festive. Our blonde waitress with a lovely Irish accent brought our food around promptly once it was ready and it was deliciously hot and tasty. Nancy's mom and I had burgers while Nancy had a chicken sandwich served with chips.
We shared an Irish coffee which failed once again to meet the standard set long ago by the Colorado Public Library in Boston. That said, it was one of the better coffees we've had in recent times in and around Portsmouth. The alcohol in any Irish coffee should be stimulating but not overpowering and it was neither in our case. The whipped cream was real and the cinnamon was dusted but not infused around the rim of the glass cup. It's always nice when sipping the coffee when a shard or two of the infused cinnamon falls away into your mouth and melts slowly against the coffee and alcohol already swilling around. It was a night to enjoy being out and about so we were not wanting to be too particular about much of anything so left it alone for the moment.
We've gone from having no snow to having a lot with more in the forecast. It snowed for the better part of the day yesterday accumulating 7-8 inches or maybe a little more over the course of 12 hours. It was touted as a fast mover at the outset so I was surprised to see it still sputtering some 12 hours after it started. My game plan yesterday was to clear it all away in passes with the snowblower throughout the day. The trigger more often than not was telltale sound of the town snowplow making its way down our dead end street. I was a bit worried that the snow would become heavier over the course of the day so wanted to stay ahead of the storm by getting out often. My darling neighbor, a woman in her early seventies and robustly independent, is spending the winter here after spending the last few in Arizona so I did my best to clear the snow away at her home as much as I could to ease her burden. She has a snowblower but it is a large machine and not well suited for an elderly person who otherwise finds taking her octogenarian Jack Terrier for a walk to be a chore. Don't get me wrong. This very same woman purchased a Harley Davidson motorcycle last year and one that was larger than the one she owned the year before. Nonetheless, the energy and muscle required to move mountains of snow can be considerable so I was happy to offer mine. You worry a little about setting precenent and all the rest when it comes to snow removal but it's nearly February so I'll not concern myself with such things. If I thought it possible, I would have Evan take up that charge but it is not a task befitting him at the moment so we'll not pursue that in any meaningful fashion.
And then there is Nancy's mom and all that needs to be done at her house. It seems we have all we can do sometimes to clear a path and remove the snow from her car so she can move it back across the street and into her own driveway. Despite the seemingly endless snow falling across southern New Hampshire yesterday, we saw to it that we got over to her house around 5 in the afternoon or so to check in on her and get her out for a ride into town if that worked out. Her driveway had not been cleared so we picked her up and went into Portsmouth where with all the city lights and drifting snows made for a winter wonderland effect. The traffic for a Saturday evening was scant indeed and some restaurants had not even opened which seemed surprising. While the storm made for difficult travel, it had not accumulated in any appreciable way so sidewalks and side streets were indeed passable and in reasonably good shape. We found a parking spot directly in front of the Irish Pub in downtown Portsmouth and waltzed around the drifts to get to the restaurant where the crowds were spirited and seemingly festive. Our blonde waitress with a lovely Irish accent brought our food around promptly once it was ready and it was deliciously hot and tasty. Nancy's mom and I had burgers while Nancy had a chicken sandwich served with chips.
We shared an Irish coffee which failed once again to meet the standard set long ago by the Colorado Public Library in Boston. That said, it was one of the better coffees we've had in recent times in and around Portsmouth. The alcohol in any Irish coffee should be stimulating but not overpowering and it was neither in our case. The whipped cream was real and the cinnamon was dusted but not infused around the rim of the glass cup. It's always nice when sipping the coffee when a shard or two of the infused cinnamon falls away into your mouth and melts slowly against the coffee and alcohol already swilling around. It was a night to enjoy being out and about so we were not wanting to be too particular about much of anything so left it alone for the moment.