Soak up the snow

From David Epstein's Weather Wisdom blog, on this historic winter of snow:

"Whatever your personal take on this, everyone is connected, because most of us can't escape the weather. We often use the term "hardy" as a way for New Englanders to describe ourselves. We are agile and nimble, smart and innovative, we will keep on shoveling and pushing through, that is what we do. When summer arrives, we’ll still talk about it, brag about it, show pictures of it and recount how collectively, how we shoveled, pushed, climbed, and moved all that snow making it through the Great Snow of 2015."

That and:

"This area many of us live and work in is a leader in so many arenas. Millions of us go to daily jobs feeling the pressure of performing for our co-workers, our boss or self-imposed ideas on taking our career to a higher level. Now, the snow has just put a halt to much of it. Sure you can work from home, but the meeting you had yesterday or today is cancelled. While the day off might seem relaxing for some, stress levels may have actually increased due to the lack of being able to get stuff done. Students are missing school, teachers aren’t able to teach, a house that was being built down the road halted construction and the state’s largest mass transit system isn’t even working.

"In 1987 when the stock market crashed it looked like a really big deal and in many ways it was. But nearly 28 years later that dip has been smoothed by time and is barely noticeable on a chart of the Dow Jones Industrial over the past 100 years. At some point in the future, maybe next week, maybe next year, all that is being missed during this Great Snow of 2015 will be barely a memory. You’ll likely remember the snowbanks, the shoveling, the days off from school, but most of the other stuff just fades with time."

 This is what I was trying to say in a recent work meeting as we were "checking in", which we typically do at the start of a meeting. I wasn't feeling great. Pretty stressed actually. Frustrated by the huge task of getting to and from Framingham from Somerville by car through snow clogged streets and the worst part: our frozen driveway piled high on either side with banks. But I held up a snowflake token and said, I want to remember to appreciate this time and this snow, and accept and appreciate it as an emphatic reminder that Nature is in charge here. Though we struggle and stress through it, we can't change it. And what's better, why not ENJOY it? How amazing is this in terms of a meteorological wonder? A defining and challenging time for our community? Let's study it, be patient with it, and soak up this time. Because we're going to want to tell stories about it for years to come. Might as well live the story fully while we're in it, so we can linger on those little details, tell of the plot twists and turns, and hook our young audiences in those future tellings.

Photo from my mom: Their front yard in Abington, Mass. The lamppost is virtually buried.