Cold Cuts

We set out to restock our freezer with meats, and Arnold's in Chicopee was the place to go. Possibly because of Superbowl Sunday the next day, the place was bumpin', to use one of Kelly's favorite phrases. Busy as it was, the service there was excellent as usual and they cut up for us a whole pork tenderloin into 15 pork chops, plus a 3 pound pork roast, at a cost of 20 bucks...



This Arnold's in the Aldenville section of the city is the original of two locations for this fantastic meat market, the other one being in East Longmeadow. Aldenville itself is just one of many villages to the north of Springfield that eventualy combined in the mid 19th century to make up one of the more uniquely named cities in Massachusetts: Chicopee.



Judging by the preponderance of French-named businesses we saw in the area, I suspect Aldenville is or had been heavily populated by French immigrants at some time in it's history. But that's just a guess...

With fresh meat in the back, near single digit temperatures outside and little to no heat in the Jeep, we set out for a little drive confident that the meat would keep until we got home. We headed west through Holyoke and Easthampton, then down route 10 into Westfield. Going over the Westfield river, we saw that the Great River Bridge project is really starting to take shape...



Still only about halfway built, right now it looks a little like Westfield's own 'Bridge to Nowhere'. (sorry, Kelly made me put that in...)



It's hard to tell for sure if this is some kind of construction marking, or if some industrious stoner had managed to scamper up the girder high above the frozen river...



With the wind blowing and the sun getting low, it was getting pretty darn cold out. How cold? Snow prints stuck to the weeks-old ice looked like photo negative images...



But we were bundled up pretty good, and decided to brave the brisk weather to have a quick look at Stanley Park in it's winter garb. We drove up to the back side of the park by the pond area, where a slightly disheartening sign greeted us at the gate.



That's ok, it'll soon be over the hump and we'll be closer than farther to the hope-giving, warm and wet breezes of springtime. We exited the vehicle and trudged on into the park where except for the biting wind, all was frozen stillness...






The pond level is very low, as most of it's water is in a solid state.



We maintained as brisk a pace as possible, setting out around the edge of the pond along a crusty snow covered walkway, hoping to get a good look at the water mill and covered bridge on the far end before the wind chills became too unbearable.



I've never been here in the winter time before, and was pleased to see that the marvelously designed park still holds it's beauty, even now.





Down at the far end of the pond area is where the local waterfowl gather. Ducks, geese and swan were weathering the weather, together.







It's incredible how the waterfowl can endure it, but we'd had enough of the penetrating wind, and said our adieu's...



Bee-lining it back to the vehicle, checking out more of the snow-covered park will have to wait for more welcoming weather...



As it was, we already had a cool ride back home ahead of us...



The Jeep's not much for heat, but it does make for a good meat locker...