Friday, December 14, 2007

The White Stuff

Now that most of the snow removing is done, for now, until this weekend, probably; I can take the time to appreciate the beauty that is a fresh New England snow cover. But first, a tasty McCalorie breakfast sandwich...


I was in Northampton this morning. Always plenty of good pic opportunities up that way. The sun wasn't really shining today, but it was still nice. Amherst blogger Mary Carey tallied up yesterday's storm accumulation, the old fashioned way: http://aboutamherst.blogspot.com/2007/12/white-white-winter-day-1.html

In Northampton the familiar winter mid-road snow piles have begun to take shape. Soon they will tower above the passing cars.


For some reason, there were several people running around the streets today. I counted four, and managed to pick off two of them:


Must be the fresh snowfall, bringing out the kid-like energy in people...maybe they were just late for work. You pick the scenario.

Hungry Ghost Bread on State St. hadn't opened up yet. I've been meaning to check it out, if for no other reason than the cool name, and odd building (for a bakery).

With a couple of minutes to kill, I went over to Pulaski Park, to look for photo-ops.



This scene saddened my bike-trailing heart. It's gonna be a while. A long while.

The Northampton trail, the one that runs from Stop&Shop to Look Park, is routinely plowed and cleared during the winter, as it's used daily by regular commuters as well as recreationalists. However, the Norrwotuck trail from here to Amherst is never cleared. The reason, according to a couple responses to my question on the Masslive forums, is that the Norrwotuck is under the jurisdiction of the Mass DCR, since it's considered a state park. The DCR does not recognize the trail as just a bike trail, but for all non-motorized use. As such, they don't clear it, so cross country skiers can use it. Apparantly few CC skiers use it though. Sounds a little iffy to me, too.



From there I had to go back south.

In Wilbraham, this business park and even a rail yard looked nice, with a fresh coating of the white stuff.

It really is beautiful, when you don't have to shovel it.

Back home, my niece Gillian's castle, next door, kept vigil over the quiet countryside.

3 comments:

Mary E.Carey said...

Thanks for the mention! The runners are hilarious. If you had been in Amherst around 2:00, you would have seen me running down the Amity Street hill to my office. Love the photos, especially the first of one of Pulaski Park, where we can glimpse the trees through the lace curtain like effect of the tree branches.

Tony said...

Every once in a while I think about getting into running. I can see the appeal. But for now, I enjoy biking. I think it's because you can't coast when your jogging!

Mary E.Carey said...

I like running, in part, because the chances of getting really, really hurt if you fall are lower. I was just thinking when I saw what looked to be a college student riding his bike late last night on East Pleasant Street that I didn't always feel that way. When I was about that age, I would have thought nothing of doing that too. No, I pretty much stick to the bike trail.