Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I woke up at about 6:30, grabbed clothes, and watered the vegetables before it got too hot; it was already 75F on its way up to 98, the third very hot day in a row. I also took down some trash and recycling, and stood around the garden looking at the sky for a few minutes.

I tried lying down again, but didn't fall back to sleep, which was fine at the time but I was feeling it less than twelve hours later.

I spent about three hours on paid proofreading, in two large chunks, plus ten minutes after dinner to finish the references and "about the author" section. The job was almost done when it was time to get a Lyft to have dinner with cattitude's sister and her husband, and is now back with the client.

We sat in an actual restaurant, and ate dumplings and other Chinese food, and talked about this and that. They offered us a ride home, which we accepted because it was still uncomfortably hot after dinner, even though the first line of thunderstorms had been through; by the time we were home, it was down to 73, so I opened lots of windows. cattitude spotted a rainbow while we were waiting to get into the car, so we took a minute to look at it before getting into the car. The windwos are still open, and I'm listening to the rain.

I have taken advantage of a sale+referral offer at eShakti, and ordered one pretty dress, and one more practical black one. I have no idea of when, or even whether, I'll wear them, but I'd been looking at the website on and off for several days, and the offer expires at midnight. They have pockets, which makes it at least plausible that they won't just sit in my closet forever.

cattitude and I unpacked another three boxes today (I wanted him to handle the camera stuff, since almost all of that is his). This means there are no moving boxes left in the kitchen (yay!). I'm not sure where this impulse is coming from, but am going to use it, not argue with it.

I heard back from my indexing client today, apologizing for not having written back to say "yes, got it" sooner because he was out sick, and thanking me for getting it in before the deadline.

Also mood-related, it was snowing lightly when I was coming home from adrian_turtle's today, and my mood ranged from "well, I live in New England" to actually enjoying the mix of sunny sky and light snow as I was waiting for the second bus and then walking home from the bus stop.

Shortly after that, I took the recycling out, and stayed outside long enough to do a couple of my PT-ish exercise. Outside with a sweatshirt, not a coat, temperature maybe +2 C; this is not typical for me.

We just had what is definitely a French toast storm, with lots of snow, schools closed, etc. (though Somerville seems to be doing well at clearing the streets, and the buses are running down Highland Avenue). Being a prepared sort of hobbit, I have milk, eggs, and challah--a bakery at the winter farmers market makes good challah, and sometimes I freeze some for days like this. So, I am about to make the canonical lunch, and there will be much rejoicing.

The maple syrup is local, also from the farmers market.

I've been thinking about the extreme cold in much of the US and Canada, and about some of the discussion of that weather, and wind chill, and how best to report on this sort of extreme weather.

The thing about unusually cold weather is that people aren't used to it. We're used to whatever's normal for where we live; that includes the coldest weather of a typical winter, but not the coldest of a typical decade or more. I used to get a daily paper (Newsday) that ran feature articles every late fall or early winter on "what you need to know about a New York winter, in a page or less." Basic things like wearing gloves, keeping your feet dry, and how to shovel snow safely. The first year I saw that article it surprised me, and then I thought about it: those articles weren't (mostly) a reminder for natives, they were for people who had just moved there from warmer climates, who didn't know what questions to ask. "Where can I buy gloves?" assumes that the person knows they should.

And remembering that reminded me of a winter almost twenty years ago. I was visiting Jo in Swansea, as was fivemack. Jo's 11-year old son Sasha, fivemack, and I went for a walk along the beach, while Jo and rysmiel sat in a cafe. It was a cold day, but not bitterly cold, and I didn't worry about Sasha saying he was cold. Then he said he was too warm, and I said "we're going back now." Sasha and fivemack didn't argue, and we walked back into town. I led them into the first open shop, where we walked idly around, warming up, before going to the cafe where Jo and rysmiel were. Somewhere, I'd read about that feeling of being too hot as a warning sign of hypothermia, and knew what to do.

I spent Thursday's snowstorm at adrian_turtle's; it was reasonably cozy and we had pot roast for supper, a good meal for that kind of day. When my mother asked on the phone Friday morning how I'd gotten there, I said "by bus, before the snow got bad."

Getting there was fine, but I seem not to have taken sufficient precautions against the cold on the trip home. (It was close to freezing when I was out on Thursday, and something like -12 C when I was waiting for the bus, and walking the couple of blocks at this end, on Friday afternoon.) I thought I had—breathe either through my nose or, if I need or want to take a deep breath through my mouth, inhale through my gloved hand [or other fabric).

A few hours after I got home, I was coughing some, and noticed an ache in my chest in a place that feels like the bottom of my lungs. This suggests I aggravated old lung damage (from going out in weather that turned much worse in the short time I was out), which I hoped had healed more than it seems to have. I think I am going to skip my political activist meeting for this evening, and that it would be imprudent to go to a rally/vigil for immigrants tomorrow morning.

I have been outside, because we needed more stuff from the supermarket than cattitude can reasonably carry, but now that I'm home again, I don't even want to get out of this chair.

I am waiting until six o'clock to decide about this evening (that gives me time either to get there, or to tell the organizer I can't make it before the meeting starts). Regardless of that, I am taking a break from marching in the streets at least until Tuesday, and probably until after Boskone.

ETA: I emailed the organizer of this evening's meeting at about 5:30 to tell her I wouldn't be able to make it.

It was good to visit Montreal, not just to see rysmiel, excellent as that was, but for the city itself. I realized soon after arriving that I was soothing homesick parts of myself: walking from the bus to rysmiel's apartment, the air just smelled right. About 90% of that smell was clover, and I'm not sure of the rest—and there's clover out here, too. But Montreal has subway trains, and people handing out free copies of Metro outside the subway stations, and the trees and plants look right. (There are deciduous trees here, too, including my beloved maples, but the mix is different.)

So I figured I might as well indulge that feeling of being back at home, and visit familiar places. I'd have done some of that anyhow, I think, like going back to Au Bulle en Carre for the crepes; I might even have gone to Kam Fung for dim sum by myself on Monday while rysmiel was at work. (Sure, there's less variety than with company, but more variety than in a lot of meals: their excellent sticky rice, a few seafood dumplings, and a stuffed crab claw.) I would have gone to Marche Atwater for fruit and yogurt anyhow, but any other visit I wouldn't have bought apples in July; this time I did, because one shop had the northeastern varieties I like, and a few stored Cortlandt apples (they looked better than the Macintoshes) appealed as much as the berries and champagne grapes and red plums—which I also bought. I eat a lot of fruit this time of year. Rysmiel and I went to Juliet et Chocolat for dessert twice, and I had the chocolate raspberry brownie with a balsamic reduction both times, because it was so good the first time. I may even try to figure out how to make the reduction, which I think would go well with any good chocolate brownie.

What I wasn't homesick for was heat waves, but I got one; Montreal averages cooler than New York City, and I think it was even hotter in New York that weekend, but this was humid and oppressive, and papersky and rysmiel have no air conditioning. During the worst of it, I was lying flat on a bed, wishing the fan was more effective and thinking "rule 1, stay hydrated," because I didn't have much focus for more than that. Fortunately, the Musee de Beaux Arts is air conditioned, and we'd wanted to see their Chihuly exhibit anyhow.

On the way back from lunch after the museum, we stopped at Camellia Sinensis so I could buy some green Darjeeling tea, which they hadn't had in at least two years. I knew from their website that they had gotten it, but I wanted to at least smell the tea before buying. I have now brewed a cup, and it is good. I don't think I can really compare this Happy Valley green Darjeeling [yes, I know, I didn't name the tea garden] with the Selimbong I got years ago, even though I still have little bit I'd been hoarding, just because of the age difference. On the other hand, I might try brewing a cup of each, rather than just tossing the Selimbong or letting it continue to age in my cupboard.

One morning while rysmiel was at work, before the weather got horrible, I made tea and then sat on the balcony with a book, reading and thinking fondly of sitting out there the previous summer, with cattitude, papersky, and rysmiel.

( some travel details )

This is "winter weather awareness" week: they sent out messages about things like what the different levels of warnings mean, and suitable preparedness. They try to do these things well before they're needed. Instead, I am looking out the window at heavy snow falling, though not much is sticking yet.

But this is not a normal warning for late October in New York City:

HEAVY BANDS OF WET SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH 5 PM...WITH SNOW FALL RATES OF 1 TO POSSIBLY 2 INCHES PER HOUR. EMBEDDED THUNDER WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. THIS WILL RESULT IN DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WITH SNOW AND SLUSH COVERED ROADS AND VISIBILITIES REDUCED TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.

It could be worse: this could be happening on a weekday. I don't mind so much sitting home and baking (the oven heat is welcome right now, though the building heat is on).

Other than that, my cut finger is healing, but I should probably go bandage it again in a little bit. I had a nice workout with Emilie on Thursday, and the rest of life is going along in its usual quiet way.

We not only have milk, eggs, and bread, we have good maple syrup.

I think the local governments are overreacting. Being prepared to shut down transit because of a hurricane is one thing. Announcing a day in advance that all trains will be shutting down at noon tomorrow seems excessive, and not just because I'm used to them keeping at least some service running through blizzard, hurricane, and northeaster.

We were going to go up to Schenectady this weekend, but we canceled that plan this morning. While we didn't know the MTA would be shutting the subway down, it seemed that Amtrak might get us up to Schenectady tomorrow, but the return trip Sunday was iffy.

I suspect I'm going to finish all my library books (I have another one waiting for me), and play a lot of Scrabble. We will go for a walk tomorrow morning, even though the Greenmarket, our usual Saturday destination, is closed. (So are all the zoos, live theater, beaches, etc. Beaches are obvious, and some of it I think is a consequence of not having transit.)

ETA: Just as well we'd already decided to stay home: Amtrak is running fewer trains Saturday, and none in the Northeast on Sunday, according to their Facebook page, which I was pointed to by the Washington Post; amtrak.com is still displaying yesterday afternoon's bit about trains canceled from DC south with further cancellations to come.

Yes, 19 inches (48 cm) is a lot of snow for one storm. But I can't remember the city suspending all bus service, for anything. Closed schools and no trash collection because all the garbage trucks are busy plowing the streets, yes.

Along with this, my office has a delayed opening at noon, with the strong suggestion to work from home if possible instead. Thumb drives mean I can easily tuck my current project in a pants pocket, so it's definitely possible.

A bit later, I need to call my trainer and see whether we can reschedule for tomorrow or even Saturday, rather than me schlepping downtown just for that. Or, alternatively, ask her, if I do make it downtown, will she be available as scheduled? (This depends on how I'm feeling in a bit; the air is close to freezing, and I can grab a larger daypack, carry my gym shoes, and wear boots. Though these aren't boots for deep snow; they're good against cold and slush, and a few inches of snow at a time.

cattitude, who has much higher boots, has gone in, so it's just me and julian_tiger here. The little cafe downstairs is open, and has baked, so I will be having a blueberry muffin for second breakfast. (I expected they'd be open, because the owner lives in this building, but I was less confident of the baking.)

I went to bed at a reasonable time by the clock last night. Unfortunately, I woke up by what time my body still thought it was, on Daylight Time, so I am short between an hour and an hour and a half of sleep.

And then, on the way in to work, I encountered mixed precipitation: sleet, rain, and snow. All of it light, but I was not pleased. On the other hand, it's my birthday in two days and we haven't had a frost yet. Sleet, yes. Freezing temperatures, no. I'm hoping for sunny and a high around 12 C/55 F for Wednesday.

I have finally gotten to go back to working on one of the books from our normal schedule. Which left me looking at a file last touched on 27 September and wondering, literally, "What was I thinking?" I'd forgotten to include identifying information, and couldn't find the material I wanted to use (by hand or with Google desktop), so I had to come up with a different approach. Ah, well. With a bit of luck, this will go out on time, or at worst a day late, not two weeks late. This is at the cost of pushing back editing on another book, but production is backlogged, and our writers may have other things on their schedules, so my boss agrees that this is the right way to do it. I don't think decisions on the schedule beyond that have been made yet; I have plenty of work to do, though.