Winter At Last

Lytton and Patrick weren't very happy about posing for this picture, but I wanted to make sure I documented the first real snowstorm of the winter. It looks as if there is plenty of snow to keep the ground covered for quite some time. Many hours have passed since I took the picture and it is still snowing.

This morning I had to drive to Perry to pick up dog food for Lytton. At that time the roads were snow-covered and the sand trucks had not done much to make them less slippery. When I returned home I tested the car again by driving up Adams Street and turning onto Mitchell, a maneuver which has to be the biggest challenge to cars in Eastport in snowy weather. The car performed flawlessly, without so much as a swerve or a spin. Since this is the first winter I've had it, I'm very happy to see what it will do. I don't have to worry about getting stuck. The only problem I encountered was ripping the windshield blade off when I started the car. It was frozen to the windshield and when I turned on the wipers, it tore. My first order of business was to drive to Jim Spinney's and get a replacement. It was a drive by feel more than sight, since I had to lean over to see out the passenger side, where the wiper remained intact. The driver's side was completely iced up with frozen washer fluid I had sprayed on it to clear the snow. Of course the streets were quite free of traffic and I made the trip without incident.

The rest of the day I spent lazily cooking and working on my puzzle. Both yesterday and today I have amused myself with this activity, so absorbing and frivolous. When I am finished, I will just pour it back into the box in a Zen-like ritual of honoring process instead of product. There is something unsettling to the western mind about destroying something you have spent weeks making, but I like the idea of it. It's an allegory of life if ever their was one.