Ed’s corner of the web

Here in the Boston area, we’ve been fortunate enough to have had a bunch of snow thus far this winter.  I say fortunate despite the fact that this is my first winter as a homeowner and law-mandated sidewalk-shoveler.  All too frequently in winters past, we’ve had good snowfall one day only to be followed by temps in the 40′s and a slushy mess the next day.  That’s if we had snow at all.  But this winter’s cold temps have kept the snow frozen, and I’ll take cold temps with snow over slightly warmer temps with wet slush any day.

Carisa and I have taken advantage of the snow as much as possible.  We’ve been out snowshoeing on five separate weekends…

…and we’ve done some cross-country skiing on three weekends, below with Fanti and Bob at our favorite place.

It’s been awesome.  As much as I enjoy all the outdoor possiblities of the other three seasons, moving in relative solitude through the hush of show-shrouded woods is an experience I relish greatly, perhaps all the more so for the limited window in which it is possible.

My sister Sandra has spent the last couple years of her life toiling away at a Masters in Public Health at that school-down-the-road in Chapel Hill, NC.  This last October, the rest of the family invited ourselves down to attend her thesis defense (with a side trip to the NC State Fair for giant turkey legs and demolition derby).  Evidently, among Sandra’s peers there’s a tradition where photographs of jumping grad students are taken after successful thesis defenses.  As you can plainly see, Sandra’s defense was also successful.  This is where a 6.3 fps burst mode comes in handy.

Not to be outdone, the family got in on the act, too:

Congratulations, Sandra.  We’re all terribly proud of you.

Carisa’s family has a yearly tradition where they get together to bake Christmas cookies, which are then handed out to family members come the Christmas get-together at the grandparents’ place.  This weekend has been designated cookie-baking weekend, and I’m along for the ride, watching but not daring to participate in the well-oiled machine that is this cooking baking operation.

There are pre-assigned tasks that have been practiced and refined over many many years of baking.  Linda makes and rolls out the dough.  Lana cuts out the shapes and places them on baking sheets.  Carisa decorates.  Linda bakes the cookies.  Then the whole process repeats until we have stacks upon stacks of cookies ready to go into Christmas tins.

As for me, I provide emotional support to the cookie makers, as well as convenient disposal of cookies accidentally broken on the assembly line.  I often wish that the bakers weren’t as careful as they are.  I also appreciate having the downtime to get caught up on random odds and ends, do some pleasure reading, and maybe even blog a little.  (Yes, it has been a while.  A long while.  I didn’t forget you.)