Green Christmas

I know the classic "white Christmas" look has its charms -- the land draped in a blanket of glistening white snow, the outlines of fir trees and rocks and cars and houses (everything, really) softened, transformed by their white frosting, and so on.

However, as I approach my seventh decade of life in this corner of the world, winter has lost a significant part of its appeal to me... not that it ever had THAT much appeal, I have to say. It is with a certain sense of dread that I watch those first white flakes falling, usually in late November or early December. I start thinking about shoveling, snowblowing, slipping on ice, worrying about heat, and so on. And having to give up motorcycling and bicycling and eating outside, to name but a few things, for three or four or more months.

That's why I was quite tickled to get out yesterday in the 53 degree weather, drive downtown through thick ground fog coming form the sublimating snow, and actually go for a bicycle ride. It was warm enough that I knew I'd be comfortable, but I wasn't sure if the bike path would be clear of snow. The first section -- the little switchback path access ramp behind Fitzwilly's in Northampton -- was not encouraging, as it was still mostly covered with icy, rutted snow. However, when I walked my bike up to the actual path, I was very pleased to see that it was completely devoid of snow!

I ended up having a lovely ride up to Florence, where I had lunch at the Cup and Top restaurant. I was actually a little too warm during the ride in the winter gear I'd chosen, but I wasn't about to complain.

What a treat, to ride the bike path two days before Christmas! I know this is not the end of the snow -- we'll likely get hit with a bunch more over the next couple of months -- but for this moment, it's sweet. I like looking out from our breakfast table and seeing a wide swath of green instead of white.

With apologies to my dear wife, who mentioned a couple of days ago that she hoped we'd have enough snow to make it a "white Christmas", I wouldn't mind if it stayed this way for a while. -- PL