It's been a super busy couple of weeks, so I didn't have much time to randomly toss thoughts into the cybersphere. (Not that the cybersphere wants for more random thoughts, of course. This place is already crammed full of useless nonsense...)
Can anyone believe that we're halfway through February already? And can anyone believe that there's a guy in an apartment across the street from us who still has his Christmas tree up?? Every day, I look over to that window on the sixth floor and see the tree, Santa hat planted on top, awkwardly holding its ground in the corner of Stranger Guy's living room. I'm wondering if I could get away with breaking and entering, if my sole purpose was to dismantle his tree...
Anyway, the highlight of the last couple weeks was the awesome snowstorm we got -- FINALLY. And yes, I really do love snow in the winter, so the lack of it this year was starting to feel very un-Chicago-like. Couple that with the fact that December was just about the cloudiest month ever (and I haven't checked the stats, but there's a possibility that it literally WAS the cloudiest month ever), and winter was taking on a decidedly depressing quality. While I LOVE cloudy weather if it's accompanied by snow, I HATE just plain cloudy weather.
And while I'm sure there are plenty of people in the Boston area (and the Buffalo area :)) who are sick of snow at this point, we haven't had nearly enough of the stuff to be exasperated with it yet. Besides, I live in a downtown condo and don't have to shovel, plow, or drive in it. Believe me, snow is a lot more fun when other people are doing all the work to remove it. :)
The one problem with snow in a city is that it doesn't stay pristine and sparkly for very long. Once plows start shoving it (and whatever else is on the street) into snowbanks, and people tramp over the sidewalks in dirty shoes, it turns from fluffy white powder to slushy brown mush.
But, I will say that the snow on my balcony is still, well, snow white. :)
The storm began with just a lot of falling snow, but by evening, the wind picked up and we were mesmerized by sheets of whipping horizontal snow outside our windows. Or at least I was mesmerized. Rick may have been indifferent... :) It wasn't quite as awesome as the blizzard we had the first year we moved here (when it was snowing so hard and it was so windy that the view from our windows was solid white), but it was good enough to make me feel like I actually DO live in Chicago. (I'm sure the single digit temperatures we're feeling this week will help, too.)
And while I would love more snow this year, spring is approaching awfully quickly. I just hope that guy across the street gets around to taking his tree down before Easter...
