Musings & Thoughts for Saturday, December 30, 2023, or: Weekend Update, Part the First (Snow Day Edition)

Late Morning, Saturday, December 30, 2023, Madison, New Hampshire

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass

Hi, everyone. It’s late morning here in my corner of New England. The current temperature in Madison is 34°F/1°C under a mix of rain and snow. With humidity at 100% and the wind blowing at 1 MPH/1 KMH from the east-northeast, the feels-like temperature is 41°F/5°C. Today’s forecast for the area calls for intermittent rain and snow throughout the daylight hours with a high of 39°F/4°C; tonight, skies will be partly cloudy. The low will be 25°F/-4°C.

Sighting My First Snowfall in New England

I woke up today a bit before 7 AM; the skies were still grayish because the sun didn’t rise till 7:19 AM, and I wasn’t paying attention anyway. I didn’t notice that it was snowing until I turned on this computer and saw, on the Weather app, the then-current conditions of Rain & Snow.  Of course, I looked out my office window and, yep, I saw that it was snowing outside.

“The snow was endless, a heavy blanket on the outdoors; it had a way about it. A beauty. But I knew that, like many things, beauty could be deceiving.” ― Cambria Hebert, Whiteout

This is not, of course, the first time I’ve seen snow. I’ve been to New York City twice (in 1986 and ’87), and to Colorado once (2000) during the snowy months of February and March, so I know what the white stuff looks and feels like.

It is, however, the first time that I see snow in a place where – for good or ill – I live. I’m not sure how I feel about that, except to say that New England winters are now part of my reality just as Florida’s summers and hurricane seasons were until a couple of weeks ago.

Welcome to New England, Kemosabe.

My Plans for Today

It’s Saturday – the last one in 2023 – and the weather is not particularly conducive to going outside even to stretch my legs a bit and get some sun and fresh air. And most of my books and movies – the physical media ones – are still tucked away in the garage in their marked moving boxes, so I’ll stick to my routine of blogging, promoting Reunion: A Story (without being obnoxious about it), eating the occasional meal, gaming, or watching/reading what I have at hand.

I did notice that somebody, somewhere, ordered one copy of Reunion sometime this week. Kindle Direct Publishing doesn’t record sales when copies are ordered; rather, it waits till orders are processed (which, I suppose, includes final delivery at their intended destination). I only noticed because I saw my book’s “bestselling” rank go from 1 million-plus to 600K (the lower the number, the higher the sales are) when I went to Amazon to get the link to Reunion’s product page for promotional purposes.

This, of course, cheered me up a bit, so, whoever bought this copy, thank you!  

Well, that’s all the news that I have to share, so I’ll close for now. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, stay warm, and count your blessings.