Thursday, February 05, 2004
K is doing much better today. She will be eating real food and if all goes well, she will be home tomorrow. Anneli will be arriving tonight and earlier than I expected, which means I need to get my ass home and clean up a little. Sure the place isn't too dirty, but it's not mother-in-law clean either.
The latest person to find this journal did a search for Daniel Sunshine and this blog came up. Just thought I would fill you in with that bit of nonsense. And speaking of nonsense, the subject matter here has been very serious lately so I thought I would take some time to change the direction towards something a little more brainless...the weather.
It has been so warm out lately (+2 today) that it feels like spring is in the air. Yet, one week ago saw the most mammoth snow storm that has taken place since I arrived. It continued for 3 days and now, when walking outside, there are 3 levels of snow - waist, shoulder, dune. Everyday the walking paths and streets are cleared and are effectively walled in by what is now, snow up to the waist. This layer of snow continues from the paths to the buildings, which makes it hard to gauge the real depth of the snow. At intersections the wall reaches as high as my shoulder and at parking lots the snow turns into an amusement park of sorts. Like small scale ski resorts for the toddlers, who line up to slide down the path that one of the parents has smoothed out of the pile of snow that is at least 15 feet tall. And there are dozens of these hills.
Unfortunately, the warmer weather is causing a bit of mayhem. The top layer of the snow has now turned into ice, which makes it very difficult to get around. I can practically hear muscles in my legs screaming, "What the hell is going on? Since when did walking become this difficult?" Well, it has. I had to run an errand downtown yesterday and the walk that normally takes 10 minutes was close to 45 minutes. The ground was so icey and broken up that it was impossible to walk in a regular manner.
Another reason for the mayhem is the fact that over the past few months a great cake of snow has landed on top of the houses and buildings and other such places. Well this warm weather has created mini-avalanches all around town. Sometimes 3 feet of snow will come toppling down from the roofs and if anyone is nearbye, run.
Another topic that is now starting to dominate my life is this class that I will be teaching this weekend, and possibly the following 7 weeks. I went to my Finnish class yesterday only to see many large posters announcing this class. Right now I am in an auditorium that will hold as many as 60 people. It sure seemed like a good idea a few months back when I agreed to teach the class. I thought that I would not have much to do and would need some money. Well funny how things turn out. I have very little time and am fortunately, but strangely financially set for the next 11 months. Still, there's no backing out now.
The latest person to find this journal did a search for Daniel Sunshine and this blog came up. Just thought I would fill you in with that bit of nonsense. And speaking of nonsense, the subject matter here has been very serious lately so I thought I would take some time to change the direction towards something a little more brainless...the weather.
It has been so warm out lately (+2 today) that it feels like spring is in the air. Yet, one week ago saw the most mammoth snow storm that has taken place since I arrived. It continued for 3 days and now, when walking outside, there are 3 levels of snow - waist, shoulder, dune. Everyday the walking paths and streets are cleared and are effectively walled in by what is now, snow up to the waist. This layer of snow continues from the paths to the buildings, which makes it hard to gauge the real depth of the snow. At intersections the wall reaches as high as my shoulder and at parking lots the snow turns into an amusement park of sorts. Like small scale ski resorts for the toddlers, who line up to slide down the path that one of the parents has smoothed out of the pile of snow that is at least 15 feet tall. And there are dozens of these hills.
Unfortunately, the warmer weather is causing a bit of mayhem. The top layer of the snow has now turned into ice, which makes it very difficult to get around. I can practically hear muscles in my legs screaming, "What the hell is going on? Since when did walking become this difficult?" Well, it has. I had to run an errand downtown yesterday and the walk that normally takes 10 minutes was close to 45 minutes. The ground was so icey and broken up that it was impossible to walk in a regular manner.
Another reason for the mayhem is the fact that over the past few months a great cake of snow has landed on top of the houses and buildings and other such places. Well this warm weather has created mini-avalanches all around town. Sometimes 3 feet of snow will come toppling down from the roofs and if anyone is nearbye, run.
Another topic that is now starting to dominate my life is this class that I will be teaching this weekend, and possibly the following 7 weeks. I went to my Finnish class yesterday only to see many large posters announcing this class. Right now I am in an auditorium that will hold as many as 60 people. It sure seemed like a good idea a few months back when I agreed to teach the class. I thought that I would not have much to do and would need some money. Well funny how things turn out. I have very little time and am fortunately, but strangely financially set for the next 11 months. Still, there's no backing out now.
// posted by Howard @ 1:29 PM 
