3rd House Journal: Year in Review: 2015

The big story of 2015 has to be the snow. Snowmaggedon. Snowverload. Snowmygod. It fell and it fell until we had more than 94 inches in the 30 days from January 24th to February 22nd, or 110 inches for the entire 2014-2015 winter season.

It started out so mild. On the weekend of the January 24th, with barely a dusting of snow in Boston, D and I drove up to Vermont for a lovely weekend with old friends of mine in their ski house, marveling at the lovely snowy mountains. It wasn't until we got home that we had the first blizzard of the season in Boston, Winter Storm Juno, which dumped more than two feet of snow. I noted cheerfully in my blog post that since you can't beat winter in New England, embrace it. Little did I know. A week later, on February 3rd, another foot of snow came down, dubbed the Full Moon snow (or Winter Storm Linus). With more than three feet of snow on the ground, we were already weary. But there was more on the way.

On February 9th, Storm Marcus left another two feet of snow. Five days later, after taking a taxi in to Boston to stay with D for Valentine's weekend (the T was no longer running above ground and D's car was in a coveted spot on Comm Ave), Winter Storm Neptune hit, leaving another 16 inches. D was also very sick that weekend, alas, making for great anxiety since we really couldn't get out if we needed to. The morning after the storm, I got out for a walk to document the frozen deluge. And fortunately D recovered after a couple of weeks on antibiotics.

It wasn't until February 22nd that we had enough of a thaw that we could go out to eat, enjoying a sunny window view overlooking a still hulking snowbank. March brought a slow melt, though we had to go to the Wellesley College greenhouses to see anything resembling spring. By the end of March, we could see the sidewalk outside D's place.

Crocuses finally appeared in early April, and by Boston Marathon weekend (April 18-20) the cherry and magnolia trees were starting to bud and the Swan Boats reappeared on the lagoon in the Public Garden. Marathon Day itself, though, was chilly and rainy, although that was no excuse not to celebrate the day in style, as this gentleman showed.

But May - ah May - was lovely. A balm to the winter weary in Boston. Remedial.

In mid June, we got to the beach one day, and in late June I flew out to see my dad for a nice visit, during which I got in a good walk at the arboretum. In July, we had lovely weather for the Independence Day weekend, with fireworks on the 4th and a nice spur-of-the-moment ride on the No. 9 bus out to Castle Island on the 5th. In mid-July, D went off to visit friends in Pittsburgh, so I got to go play with my girlfriends, enjoying the giant white rabbits on Lawn on D, a tour on a giant sailing ship, and then giant margaritas dockside.

August brought a lovely summer vacation stay for D and I in the outer Cape Cod town of North Truro at a place right overlooking the beach. In September, we took a fast train down to Providence for Waterfire for a fun afternoon and evening, including an excellent choice of restaurant and the ever enthralling Waterfire event.

We made the best of October light, including driving back up to Vermont to stay with my friends again, this time for a fall leaf-peeping weekend, although the warm weather forestalled the autumn leaf colors quite a bit. At the end of October, we took in the spooky goings-on for Halloween in Boston. In mid November, we went to the ICA-Boston with a good friend of D's to see some modern dance and the Black Mountain College exhibition. November 18th was this blog's 11th blogiversary, but I'm afraid I forgot to note it this year. At the end of November, we finally used last year's Christmas present of a gift certificate at the Top of the Hub, taking in the views from the 52nd floor (too snowy to get there early in the year, too nice out later on to stay indoors).

It was a busy year at work. Though I still enjoyed the job this year, it's been challenging with various physical issues - sleep interruptions with night sweats and then each of the many remedies I tried which worked and then didn't or worked but ended up giving me anxiety or palpitations. Lack of sleep sometimes wrecked my concentration and my moods and left my muscles tense without enough rest at night. I developed hip bursitis from crunching up at my desk to try to focus in order to do my job. Physical therapy helped, and the latest remedy has eased things though not completely. We'll see how it goes in 2016.

En fin, December, a very busy month indeed (see previous post). Yesterday, we had our first snow of the season (or slush actually), after hitting record high temperatures in the 60's (about 19°C) the day before Christmas. The weather is expected to clear for New Year's Eve, which we'll enjoy in our usual low-key way, with a cocktail out somewhere, then the First Night promenade (around 6 pm), maybe the family (ie, early) fireworks, and then back inside for dinner at D's with a movie and whatever New Year's Eve festivities are on TV. I'll just make it to midnight.

Happy New Year, wherever you are!