As a New Englander, I know that the weather can be as unpredictable as lottery numbers.  We've had temperatures in the seventies in January.  Aside from having twenty-three days until winter, what's the big deal about having a blizzard in October?


There's a lot to be said about removing depths of snow twelve to twenty-four inches (depending on the drifts from the howling winds) off the deck.  Really, it was great.  First, I walked knee deep in the frozen fluffy stuff to reach the shovel.  Then I dug a hole as my starting point.  In ten minutes, I had a two foot circle in the middle of the thirty-five square foot deck.  Oh what fun.  My gloved hands were on the verge of frost bite and my nose was so numb, I couldn't feel the frozen snot dangling from it.   I assumed the position for clearing the snow off in one clean sweep by holding the handle in front of my stomach and pushing off like a track runner.  The "icing" on the cake was getting jabbed by the handle as one of many nails poking out of the boards caught the blade.   Over and over again.


Besides my minor inconvenience,  this blizzard is a big deal.  A big stinking rotten deal.  Most of the towns around this state are without power due to the massive amount of snow forcing trees to rip down power lines.  It could take days to repair the damages and get power back on.   Meanwhile, people are freezing inside their own homes.  And they're already canceling school for tomorrow.  I never win the lottery, but I'm willing to bet this is the beginning of one long ass, predictable winter.  Regardless of what the calendar says, it's officially here.