Endless Knots

Wild weather

It began as a beautiful day, sunny, if not a bit hot, a good one for that early morning quick weeding. Soon, the clouds came in, nothing to be concerned about, it would seem, and then around 2 in the afternoon, thunder, lightning, wind, torrential rain, street floods, and suddenly a crash. It was all over in less than half an hour.

Remember my gorgeous peonies? They're under this huge branch, one of two that broke loose from an old maple in our backyard, each in excess of thirty feet that fell from the back of the house to the front, grazing the roof. Another tree in the back of the yard toppled onto a neighbor's house and was caught on an open jalousie window. Across the street, another huge maple, uprooted, is now "resting" on the side of our neighbors' house. Microbursts, they said, and some other neighbors lost power.

Get out!

Friends, Bostonians, New Englanders - I come to praise the weather, not to ... Just slipped on the long undies, layered on a few more, donned the possum hat and gloves from New Zealand, swaddled into the old down jacket, leashed up the pups, and took a brisk walk in very clear air. It is gorgeous and invigorating out. Get moving before the snow comes - just heard we have another 4-9 inches on the way.

Ice and pain

It's been pretty cold, snowy, rainy, and icy here in Boston of late, leaving a lot of the dreaded sheet of slipperiness in odd patches around town. I fell last night and though I didn't hurt myself at all it does prompt me to post this note, reminding everyone to keep their eyes open. I slipped in my driveway in the dark. I hadn't come far enough in to set off the motion detector.

That said, my very close friend did take a terrible spill during an ice hockey game last Saturday, resulting in a broken femur, surgery, and a lot of pain. He fell when a player on the opposing team "checked" him, which is not supposed to happen in Saturday morning play among adults of a certain age. So it's dangerous, this ice. Be careful and make sure, if you're a hockey player, that the rules have been spoken and acknowledged by all before play begins.