And Finally God Smiles on Boston

07 March 2009

After 4 months of one of the worst winters in and around Boston, the temperature finally rose to an all season high of 50F (10c) with sun shining nice and bright, no wind chill , in short a perfect day.

So far Boston has had 45 inches of total snow, about 3-4 snow storms already, temperatures that have been in the single digit F for months on end and not to forget the wind chill that makes matters worse. The number of times you have remove your car from the piles of snow it is buried under, cleaning the foot of snow around the car so that you can take it out without getting stuck in the snow and then there is the driving. Ooh the driving in the snow, driving at speeds of 10mph where the posted limit is 55mph, making the turns as slowly as possible so as to not skid and hit the other car or worse the electric poles. And not to forget the hundreds of dollars you have already spend in buying snow tires and having them mounted for the winters. Then you have the umpteen layers of clothing to just step out of the house, I generally try and run for like 4 days a week whenever its possible thanks to the weather and boy do you have to cover yourself ... First you have the thermal wears, then you have the track suit, then to top it off you have a jacket, gloves, something to cover your neck and your ears and head. So basically you step out of my house at 6.45 in the morning looking like a thug, yet shivering for the first 10-15 minutes. It still feels good to be out and you feel lucky if you have some sunshine. Though the sun shine is just an illusion cause the temperature is still in the single digits (-12 to -6C). But you know that this is the only time you would see some sun cause you would be holed up in your cubicle all day long and before you realize the sun sets on you. In this part of the world, during Nov - Jan sun sets usually around 3.30 to 4 pm and in Feb around 5.

Which brings us back to yesterday, 7th March 09, a beautiful day. The sun shine actually meant something and you wished you have enough friends to play a game of volleyball or better yet cricket. you are aware that such a day is extremely rare and you wouldn’t see such a day for at least another month or worse for two. But alas you don’t get to play any sports so the next best thing to do is go out for a run. But this time around all you really wear is just your track suit, that’s all you need .. and this itself makes you feel good. You thank god for this day and pray that you get more of these. And then when you step out you see all sorts of people enjoying the day, old people brisk walking, the couple walking their ooh so beloved pet dog (still haven't figures out why people have/need them and the kind of affection they have for the drooling animal), kids playing out in the open instead of being holed up in their houses, the enthusiast couple also running ... Smiles everywhere, people waving at you, the comments about the nice day.

You introspect about the things going around you, the calm breeze and the still water (much of it is ice still) help you relax your nerves. You feel extremely calm and at peace and you think about any and everything while still running. You think whether you would still have your job by the end of the next week, you pray for the good heath and well being of your loved ones, you think about your nephews and your nieces and how you wished you could play with them and watch then every single day as they get older, you think about the your first days away from everyone and how hard those were and how you got over them, and occasionally you wish you could do what you really like .... start a new beginning, no more boring engineering, no more living far away from people that really matter .... but alas you thoughts are soon interrupted and you are brought back to the world of harsh reality.

Soon an hour goes by and your run is over, you are exhausted but glad that you got some time to think, to introspect. You realize that such a perfect day would not be seen for a while now. Its probably God telling you to make most of what you have got now, to fully utilize the present, to make use of the opportunity when presented cause who knows what lies ahead. But you still live for the future knowing that the choices you make in present will determine how the future turns out. Live for tomorrow is what you still hold on to. Such is the irony.

EDIT: 09 March 2009

As expected the weather changed drastically today. Its been snowing since the morning, the temperature is back in the 30s F, its almost 10am as I write but havent seen the sun as yet. Its dark and depressing. Who would believe that just a couple of days the weather was at its best. Such are the ways of New England.