it snowed again today, second day in a row. there was only about an inch of accumulation, but enough to cover the solar panels. and with temperatures dropping into the single digits overnight and the teens on friday, any snow would freeze solid. there was no doubt i'd have to go back to belmont and clear the solar panels again.

i ate some leftover roasted potatoes for lunch before heading out to market basket to get some groceries. it was still snowing, heavy flurries, and i was worried that i might have to wait outside in line to get into the supermarket but thankfully there weren't that many people (though still crowded by supermarket standards). working from a list, i knew what i had to get and made quick work of it. mostly muffin ingredients, but i also picked up some on-cor frozen lasagna that were on sale (2/$5).

i waited another hour at home for the snow to let up before leaving at 2pm. i was looking at the neighboring solar panels as a guide as to what type of snow it was. riding condition was about the same as yesterday, with a bit of fresh snow on top of what's already there.

when i got to belmont, i shoveled the sidewalk and cleared the bit of snow off of the car. i then got the foam roof rake from the garage and went into the backyard to inspect the solar panels using the drone. even though temperature was below freezing, even though it was still snowing, i opted to fly. as long as the battery is warm, the DJI mini 2 can fly in subzero weather, though battery life is diminished. as for the snow, when the propellers are spinning, they sort of act as snow repellent. it was light snow anyway, and safer to fly in the snow than in the rain, though i've seen videos of people flying in the rain as well, so the drone is pretty tough.

our solar panels were covered but there was only about in inch of snow. like yesterday, i first cleared the panels above the living room. from that spot i could also reach 2 of the panels in the middle of the roof. next i leaned the ladder against the eastern side of the sunroom and cleared the snow off of those panels. i discovered that pushing the snow is a lot easier than pulling the snow. it went a lot quicker than yesterday simple because there was less snow to remove. finally, i moved the ladder to the bathroom window. from that position i could clear all the panels above the bedroom along with 2 more panels from the middle of the roof.

by the time i finished cleaning the solar panels, the snow had pretty much stopped. i put in a fresh battery (learned my lesson from yesterday, put the drone inside the house when not using) and decided to fly around a bit. all the flights today i'd put the phone into airplane mode, i never once had an app crash. i also checked to see if the map would still work with no wifi/data and the map data displayed fine, the app must've downloaded the map prior to flying. i decided to fly back to the reservoir as it was a short distance away. yesterday i only made it to the middle of the reservoir before turning back; today i reached all the way to the other side before 2 bars of RC signal reception made me return. i grabbed a better photo of the reservoir, with the trio of richardsonian romanesque gatehouses with views of fresh pond, the boston skyline, and children sledding down the hill.

i returned to cambridge before 4pm. riding down huron avenue, i saw marimekko was closing and the employees were putting free stuff out on the sidewalk. i grabbed some small terracotta pots with matching clay saucers along with a half gallon glass milk bottle. they were also tossing out wooden boxes but a neighbor walking by grabbed all of them.

i saw don shoveling his sidewalk when i got home. i did the same. even though it was only a bit of snow, it was hard to remove since it'd already been trampled by foot traffic. i figured whatever snow i don't remove will freeze solid overnight and turn slippery. afterwards i sprinkled some salt that i'd purchased for last winter but never got a chance to use since we didn't get any snow.

i went to star market to pick up some snacks: cheese crackers and green grapes.

i baked one of the on-cor lasagnas in the oven around 8pm, didn't eat it until 9pm. by then i was pretty hungry, so it wasn't a surprise that i ate the whole thing (all 28 oz. of it, which according to the box is 4 servings). now i can make my own lasagna, but it never tastes as good as the commercial frozen variety. maybe i don't add enough salt, maybe it's something else, but whatever the reason, store-bought always seem to taste better. my preferred frozen lasagna is stouffer's, i don't ever remembering having the on-cor one before. it was a little runny but not bad. plus you can't beat that price, just $2.50 for nearly 2 lbs. worth of proteins and carbs. i ate while watching an episode of the serpent from my computer. afterwards i was in a food coma, just like yesterday.