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a forecast of snow was scheduled to arrive in the boston area by late afternoon. this wasn't the first october where boston got some snow; it happened as recently as 2009. what's different this time was the amount; usually it's a dusting, but this time we're looking at inches of accumulation, with parts of western massachusetts rumored to be getting amounts measured in feet.

for the time being it was a quiet morning as i biked to belmont. temperature was brisk in the 40's so i dressed accordingly, but by the time i arrived at my parents' place i was overheating from all that biking and stripped everything off, my t-shirt sweat-soaked.

before the snow there was the rain that started around 2:00. i went outside to inspect the garden. under the row covers, the radishes, the nasturtiums, and arugulas all seemed okay. the nasturtiums - which until now seemed impervious to weather extremes - had some tender young leaves shrivel up from cold damage. the rain barrels were also operating at capacity. we'll need to turn them over before real winter arrives.

i was surprised that my parents had yet to turn on their heat, instead relying on space heaters strategically located one per room. they work within a given vicinity, but wander to any other parts of the house and i can definitely feel the temperature drop. i brought up a digital thermometer and saw that the temperature in the study was already 57°F and falling. i mentioned how cold it was a few times before my father finally got the hint and turned on the heat.

ever since i came back from my doctor's appointment i've been blowing my nose non-stop, to the point where i've filled up the trash can with used kleenexes. i had my suspicions that maybe i contracted something while i was at the hospital but i wasn't sure. that is until today. besides the runny nose, i was also sneezing, coughing, and felt generally weak. i took 2 dayquil liquicaps, which seemed to have stopped the symptoms (i'll take another 2 nyquil before i go to bed).

by late afternoon the rain had transitioned into snow. not enough to stick, but given the temperature drop and the amount of moisture already on the ground, it was only a matter of time.

my father made dinner tonight, not sure what was the occasion, maybe he just got the short straw. he was stewing goat meat in the kitchen so the entire house had a savory gamey smell.

my parents insisted i take one of the cars back to cambridge, but i didn't want to be responsible for keeping a vehicle. i decided to bike back home. it was sleeting by that point, with a layer of wet snow on the cars and the lawns. i wrapped up my things in trash bags so they wouldn't get wet. it was a long 3 mile trip back, my breath steaming, listening to the sounds of my panting echoing inside my bike helmet, the cold sleet stabbing at my face, my glasses covered with rain and fog, almost riding blind. it's one thing to watch this terrible weather from the warmth and comfort of home; it's another to exposed to the elements, to feel just how miserable it really is.

i called my parents when i got back to let them know i didn't die, before jumping into the bathroom and taking a hot shower.

the snow is supposed to continue throughout the night, only stopping in the morning (around 8:00). i'm curious to see the landscape come sunrise.