The Winter that Wasn't

Most people in upstate New York have strong opinions about winter. They either love it or hate it; there is no middle ground. For me, I do enjoy winter, especially the first half, with the holidays and newness of it. Once you get into January and February especially, it begins to drag on and becomes a bit of an endurance test, Even most winter lovers around here don't mind the first signs of Spring. To enjoy winter, you must meet it and embrace it, and find it's pleasures. For some, it's about outdoor activities: skiing, snowmobiles, and ice fishing. I enjoy the more subtle pleasures; fireplaces, warm meals, the silence and isolation of a big snowstorm.

Bonus photo of First Brother-In-Law Randy doing my work
for me. You can see the chilly crawl space under the bath. 

The Winter of 2015-2016, dominated by a powerful El Niño, was erratic and managed to leave our slice of the world nearly snowless and generally mild. There were exceptions, like the morning of February 14, where we came within 2 degrees of the all time record low here, and was probably the coldest morning I've ever experienced. Many areas were -20F or colder. Luckily, I was smart enough to see it coming and shut down the water to the half bath and sure enough the pipes froze. Since then, I've wrapped those pipes in insulation and will be looking into better insulating or possibly even heating the area under the half bath.

Our long sidewalk. 

The lack of snow has kept me from getting out my snow blower (snow thrower for some - I don't understand the changing name). I purchased it many years ago after taking over the maintenance tasks over at Helen St. The few times it has snowed, I managed with a shovel but considering the long sidewalk, I have no doubt that the snow blower will be used in future winters.

Beautiful walking weather.

The mild weather has allowed Cindy and I to get out and walk. One of the big advantages of living on Binghamton's west side is the opportunity to use your feet. Wide sidewalks line all streets in the generally flat terrain. There's plenty to look at with a wide variety of homes. Binghamton was apparently built with lax housing codes allowing apartments and two families built next to quaint cape cod's and mansions. This diversity in housing has led to a diversity in residents with college students and low income homes next to doctors, lawyers and professionals. Our block includes a large Queen Ann Bed and Breakfast, a Victorian Mansion, several two families and a small apartment building. Around the corner is a stone mansion with gold lions guarding the front steps.

Cindy and I often have a destination in mind for our walks, and that destination normally offers liquid refreshments. Pick a compass point from our front porch and you can find a friendly neighborhood pub at the turn around point of a reasonable walk. Lately we've been heading southeast a lot and stopping at Abel's Pub. The place is tiny but warm and friendly with free popcorn and cold drinks. Next door is Pizza Nia's a nice little pizza joint that sells slices for $2 and has delicious wings. They also sell spaghetti and meatballs by the bucket, reminding me of the lost and lamented Pancho's Pit.

The continued mild weather has me thinking about detailing our much neglected cars. I normally am meticulous with my car care but the move and house improvements and repairs have dominated my time. I look forward to using our broad driveway and large garage to detail our dirty vehicles getting the winter grime and the dirt and dust of our move out of them.