random thoughts – Day 1,401 – (Wednesday) –sunshine and light

It was cold, with temperatures in the 20s, but the blue sky and bright sunshine took some of the edge off. And it was great that there was nothing falling from the sky.

The remote start feature currently ties for “favorite car accessory” with the heated seat. This morning, it was so cold that even with the engine running for 10 minutes and the heater on, the doors were frozen shut. I slammed the edge of the front door with my hand and then it opened, but the back door wasn’t budging. The work bag was deposited on the seat, and a gymnastics feat executed to get the snow brush/scraper from the floor of the back seat for the clearing of the roof.

Night trees.

The drive to work started out well with light traffic, but about a half mile from home I realized I’d forgotten my carefully assembled lunch of chicken and roasted vegetables on the counter. If it sat all day while I was gone it would have to be tossed. Funds are low until payday, so buying lunch was out of the question. 

It was decided. The point of no return had not been reached yet, so I grabbed a left turn and headed back to the house. Seven minutes after leaving, I was back in the kitchen grabbing the lunch container. 

What a difference seven minutes makes. Leaving the house for the second time put me into significantly heavier traffic than before. It still wasn’t the worst traffic ever, just heavier than a few minutes earlier. It confirmed that I have found the sweet spot for departure. A few minutes earlier or a few minutes later means a much longer journey with a lot more grumbling.

At the garage, the car window was frozen and wouldn’t lower. Swiping my card required putting the car in park, opening the door, unclasping the seat belt, hanging out of the gap in the door and waving my card. Super fun.

Evening glow on
Merrimack.

Around noon, while driving to a photo shoot, any time a corner was turned, the dashboard would alert me that a door was open. At a red light I opened and closed the driver’s door but at the next corner, the light came on again. The back door, that had been frozen shut hours earlier, was now thinking it was open. At the destination, I still had a hard time opening the door that claimed to be open. When it finally opened, I gave it a satisfying slam to shut it again.

The daylight is lingering a bit longer each day and just before 5:00 the last bits of light were clinging to the day. It was closer to 5:30 when I left the office and hit Merrimack Street and the cold, crisp evening air. The sidewalks were a combination of cleared to the concrete and stone slabs, followed by sections coated with an inch or so of dirty, sloppy snow.

The white lights in the trees are still lit, creating a cozy glow through downtown. The cleared sidewalks in front of the bank were a bit wet and reflected the traffic and car lights. Further down, restaurant windows glowed with light. The bakery cases shone with macarons and cupcakes. The new Vietnamese restaurant still has a tree  in the window, loaded with colorful decorations. It had a small-town charm to it and made for a pretty walk to the garage.