The lake effect storm machine is slowing down… a little. We were able to get down to Syracuse yesterday for the swimming sectionals competition. It felt like driving from the Arctic to Virginia. Mexico, Parish: mountains of snow. Central Square: hills of snow. Cicero, Liverpool: some snow. Syracuse….. not so much.
The weather wizards are saying that my town has more than 100 inches of snow from this “snow event”. (What a dumb phrase that is.) Some said 108 inches. Some said 110. Really, people, once it’s over your head, it doesn’t matter. The Weather Channel has posted pics.
But it was wonderful to get in the pool area of Nottingham High School, strip off the winter clothes, and lounge around as if it were 75 degrees… because it was 75 degrees!
Very hard to tell the swimmers apart because most had shaved their heads.
There were a LOT of people there, which made it even warmer. Because of BH’s knee, we sat far away from the starting blocks (those splashes? Swimmers diving in.) but we could see much better than my ancient camera can show.
Number One Son qualified for today’s finals in both of his events.
One of my favorite sights of the day – a swimmer’s little sister reading Charlotte’s Web.
Our portion of the meet ended in the middle of the afternoon. We layered on the tundra clothes again and headed north. The snow started falling again when we got to Parish.
By the time we got to Mexico, this is what is looked like, because yet another foot of snow had fallen in our absence.
Pizza delivery, lake effect style.
A sign in the middle of downtown.
The CNN truck was wandering around, too. I bet the people covering this story for them are wondering what they did to piss off their producer.
The sun is shining right now and we aren’t supposed to get anymore snow for another 24 hours. BH has been cleared to work out on the exercise bike, so we’re headed to the gym for some much needed exercise before going back to the city to watch the swimming finals.
I promise I will try to post about something besides the weather this week.
100 inches? Ouch. I thought I had issues when the blizzard left Maryland covered in TWO FEET. (It wasn’t fun walking to and from the bus stop everyday. Someone decided it would be funny to pile all the snow onto the sidewalks.)
Woo! Stay warm! Bob remembers competing with Nottingham High when he was a diver at Liverpool High. (a long, long, LONG time ago.) 🙂
i’m quite enjoying the weather posts actually. as a native floridian, who has only seen snow once, these pictures amaze me.
awww, i used to swim competitively and time races for men’s meets…those pictures make me want to get in the pool today! what events does he usually swim?
I’m going to show my husband your post in case he ever gets the notion to move back into the snow belt.
Heh – when you said you were heading to a swim meet, somehow I KNEW you’d be at Nottingham!! That pool is amazing. How long has Number One Son been swimming? Molly has been taking lessons, and seems to think she would like competing when she’s older (and better).
I hope the finals went well today.
Please keep telling us about the weather. I even want to know where all that water is going to go when it starts to melt. Will the snowshoes keep you from sinking into boggy earth in the spring? And just THINK about all the sticks you’re going to have to pick up.
You tried to write about the magical feeling you felt out in all that snow several days ago, and I’ve been searching for that memory ever since. It’s hard with all the noise of life. The closest I came was when I put on headphones (without music) and stood outside in the cold with my eyes shut, pretending.
It has been as cold here, but no snow. I got all excited on Wed. cause it had warmed up to 20.
I think whenever the high is less than 20 or the low is less than 0, everything should just be canceled so I can stay home and hibernate.
I know winter driving can be sucky, but having to walk everywhere when the windchill is -20 is miserable.
Nottingham High School? How creepy, my town in central New Jersey also has a Nottingham High School. 😉
Speak was a wonderful novel
Hi Mrs. Anderson,
I am emailing you as a requirement for my Adolescent Literature class that I am taking this semester. We were required to read your novel, “Speak.” I am really glad it was considered one the books we had to read because it was very inspirational and a delight. I enjoyed the book and the character, Melinda. She reminded me so much of myself when I was freshman. I loved how you described the freshman experience. I liked the way you incorporated the rape into the novel. You would have never known that actually happened to her by the way you led us through the novel up until she finally decided to speak. Melinda makes every high school teenager who has ever been raped or abused to not be afraid to speak up.I look forward to reading more of your novels in the future.
Carla Leejay, M.A.
Graduate Student, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
I know the pool is heated, and probably the room as well…
But, snow and swimming? It’s hard to reconcile!
…Is that snow piled in the back of that pick-up next to the CNN truck?
Re: Speak was a wonderful novel
Thanks!
When I was a kid (on a year-round swim team) one of my greatest joys was walking home from swim practice in the winter time and having my wet hair turn into icicles.
The pick-up truck drivers generally allow the snow to pile up in the back of their trucks to give them some added weight.
These snow pictures are amazing! Quite the winter wonderland.
I am a new fan, having read Speak last week. It is an amazing treatment of so many issues prevalent in high schools. I wish my 9th grade self would have been able to read Speak – it would have helped me sort through the the social ills of being a teenager. I already have a copy of Fever 1793 to tackle next. As a future teacher interested in education and technology, I would like to compliment you on your website – I’ve enjoyed exploring it. Such a great resource for teachers, students, and fans alike – Thanks!
e.hester
Argh! That’s insane! Did you not get colds & flus?
Well, that makes sense.
I got so mad at our local news last night trying to compare our incoming storm to yours “will we get what oswego county and they have?! Find out at 10?”
Besides the fact we are nowhere near a lake….
And there is a BIG difference between 2 feet and 100+ inches. Once I stop being able to see over what I can shovel, I stop counting.