i wanted to sleep in a little bit later but instead woke up early so i could get a start on my shoveling. i was afraid of what i'd find outside. it wasn't that bad, about 18" fell in cambridge. it was still snowing lightly, but beginning to taper off. my next door neighbor don had already done his sidewalk, dumping the snow onto a wedge of no-man's-land where the street curves. as for me, i put as much snow as i could onto the small gardening strip in front of the house before i had to dump the rest in the backyard.

after i was done with the sidewalk, i began digging out a trench into the backyard to the basement so i could gain access to my bicycle when i wanted to use it. there was more snow to shovel but an easier job because i could just pile the snow onto the sides.

sweat-soaked, i came back inside to warm up and to take a quick shower. i got dressed and went back outside again, this time to take some photos.

i made my way to harvard square to deposit some money in the bank. what i didn't plan on was the bank would be closed due to the bad weather. i wandered around harvard square a bit more before returning home via kirkland and beacon street.

i kept my eyes open for bicycles, especially those with front and rear baskets. winter is a dangerous time for bikes because they're liable to get buried in the snow and then mangled by snowplows. it was a smart move yesterday to relocate my bike into the basement; where i normally park it is now a huge mound of snow.

a few more random winter scenes:

in the mid-afternoon i got a ride from my father to belmont for some dinner. i brought along my wii fit for my sister (not like i've been using it much, it's just been gathering dust). it finally stopped snowing by that point. along the way, i saw many people digging their cars out from the snow. i never saw the sun, but things were brightening up and i caught glimpses of the blue sky behind the clouds.

scenes from belmont:

for a short-haired dog not suited for winter activities, hailey enjoys playing in the snow. so much so that she'll whine to be let out. she loves to chase snow, from the stuff that falls from the sky, to the kind she kicks up into the air herself. she doesn't even know when she's overdoing it, even when she's shivering. once back inside the house (after much coaxing), her stomach is all freezing cold.

my parents' place actually lost power today. my sister was all freaking out saying we'd all freeze to death and kept calling the utilities company. as for me, living in cambridge, i'm sort of used to it, with all the neighborhood construction work. however, so far this winter season i haven't lost power yet. 30 minutes later the power came back on.

i continued drinking my homemade ginger ale, which i now think is pretty awful, but i keep on drinking it thinking that maybe the taste will grow on me. i now think it tastes like carbonated chinese sichuan fermented cabbage juice, a little sweet, a little sour, with an unpleasant aftertaste.

my sister made dinner tonight, pasta with some kind of carbonara sauce. it was a little bland, but nobody dared complain.

my father gave me a ride back to cambridge.

maybe it's because i'm not used to going to bed in such warm conditions during the winter, but i've been having the strangest dreams ever since i began sleeping in the guest bedroom. i took a temperature reading last night and discovered that it's actually 70°F, 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. i'm used to bundling up under the covers during the winter to stay warm, but in the guest bedroom i'm actually kicking off the covers because it's too hot.