we are just getting pasted by a blizzard right now, winter warnings for 24 hours here.. Through tonight… its a small flake blizzard, but they are very wet and heavy, the kind that makes great snowballs, packs down into concrete rapidly, makes the tress bend, and creates insane slush…
I have always wondered why we give hurricanes the honor of a name, but not other weather phenomenon, like blizzards, or tornados, or heck, even really beautiful sunny days! why is it only catastrophic weather given the honor of a name? this was struck home to me a few years ago when a hurricane hit the southern states, and by the time it came up here, it was just a really hot, humid, one day blast of low hanging clouds and occasional rain. Everyone was mentioning the hurricane’s name, and it was a weather non-event, really (I mean, rain? Ithaca? omigosh, sooo unexpected!!!!)
Today we are right in the jaws of one pretty monstrous blizzard, here is jess cleaning her car this morning, as she was getting out her snow brush, she was saying, “boy this feels like a cave in here”
as I was finishing the shoveling, and she was shoveling off her car, our neighbor Deidre walked by, and I made my observation to her that “we name hurricanes, but we don’t name things like this!”
Deidre replied: “I lived in Florida for twenty six years, and frankly, hurricanes are not a big deal, unless its that one in every ten years hurricane, if you live in a concrete house, its pretty much a non-event.. maybe 6 hours that you don’t go outside. I have been in Ithaca for a few years now, and I still just find this weather simply awesome..”
looking at the slush coating the street, and the cars fishtailing about… we agreed that this blizzard should have a name, I offered bart as the name of the blizzard, Deidre agreed, saying Bart is a fine name…
The great thing about snowstorms, is that they have such varied personalities depending on which direction you look.. and now I can directly blame Bart as an individual with this cruel and beautiful multifaceted personality, I mean all these pictures were all take within a few minutes of each other, each is has a unique feel. Yet it’s all Bart!
Bart the clothier of trees
Bart the changer of my street
Bart the bringer of shoveling inspired heart attacks!
Bart the brown slurry paste slush monster!
The contemplative walk in the snow thinking face
Bart the ever changing!
Bart the weather channel ratings god-o-the-moment,
All hail Bart, the inspirer and destroyer!
Bart! the salt on the back of black dogs!
Creator of potholes
Bart Calls!
The rumble of snowplows is our reply…
etc
etc
etc….
I am glad I don’t skate outdoors much anymore, the second metric race I ever did was against US national team skater chris callis in a screaming blizzard like this, in lake placid……
the XC skis are calling me today… Onward!!
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