Memories of snowstorms past

I had about six inches of snow to clean up this morning, practically a light workout after last week’s 18 inches or so and giant plow-induced drifts at the top of my driveway.

For some reason, however, I felt like someone had run over me with a truck when I was all done. Fortunately, it appeared to have just been early morning exertion combined with not eating much for breakfast — I did last week’s work after lunch — so a little bit of rest and a small plate of pasta had me feeling like new again.

The shortest day

I had to get out. Right then.

There was no time to wait … literally.

It was 4 o’clock. It was going to be dark soon.

Saturday: Don’t say anything

It wasn’t particularly easy, but Liverpool won again.

Fans, pundits, announcers … everyone is talking about what Liverpool is about to do, as it’s all but a done deal.

As a Liverpool fan, I’ll be so excited when they wi …

… Nope, can’t do it.

Friday: It could always be worse

Valentine’s Day passed fairly quietly and uneventfully.

Suzi and I went to dinner and exchanged cards. It was cold, but that’s all it was.

Unlike five years ago.

Photo gallery: Winter in Cape Cod

As long as the weather wasn’t too bad, Cape Cod was great in the winter.

There weren’t crowds. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, and the beaches were still beautiful.

A cozy winter tag

Thanks to Becky at Strikeouts + Sprinkles for this tag!

The rules (because there are always rules) are as follows:

— Be sure to link back to the tag creator in your own post.

— Tag four or more of your own friends to keep the coziness going.

— You don’t have to be tagged to fill this out—feel free to post your answers on your own blog.

So without further ado …

Winter is one of them

Now that we’ve had our first snowstorm of the season, I figured it would be a good time to tee up this one from Oct. 1, 2016, even though I know winter doesn’t officially start for another couple weeks.

There is a — I don’t want to call it a “lie” or a “fraud,” because that implies intent, so I’ll call it a “myth” — being spread. Perhaps you’ve done it yourself.

What is this myth?

It’s that living in a place with “four seasons” is in some way superior to having weather that’s pretty much good year-round, such as Southern California.

Totems of childhood

I had plenty of stuff to keep me occupied as a kid, but four things were particularly important: a Wiffle ball and bat, a bicycle, a sled (preferably of the plastic variety) and a NERF football.

Plus a basketball, but that came a little later, after my father built a hoop, first on the garage and then at the end of the driveway.

It was a time when if you wanted to do something outside in the small town I grew up in during the 1970s and ’80s, you just went outside, and with those, I was sorted all year long.

It’s that time of year again

It’s not even 5:00 yet, and it’s already almost dark.

I really, really hate this part.

Miracle on a winter’s morning

Because to a certain groundhog in Pennsylvania named Phil, “early spring” is apparently defined as “nearly a foot of snow on March 4,” I had the snowblower out this morning.

Everything was going fairly smoothly, and I was just about wrapping up when everything stopped with a “thunk.”