WeThree: Old Man Winter

Typically, I will be the first person to defend old man winter. I love living in a state where you truly experience all four seasons, and I have never minded the coldest one -- viewing it as a time to make homemade clam chowder, drink hot chocolate, read books, watch the winter Olympics, and admire the beautiful snow that coats empty farm fields and skeletal trees alike. In fact, even during this last big storm, which probably dumped about ten inches of snow on our little part of the world, I didn't mind watching the snow quietly fall and pile up.

[beautiful]

The problem; however, tends to come after the beauty part. You know, the part known as the mess. When all of a sudden there are piles and piles of sort-of white, sort of gray, heavy slush everywhere, narrowing streets and sidewalks to slippery cattle-shoots. When all of a sudden there is absolutely no place to park because your car (conveniently lacking four-wheel drive) will manage to get stuck in one inch of snow, let alone ten. When all of a sudden, you have to go to work, and your car, which you swore you parked in a good spot, just spins its sad tires, not allowing you to travel anywhere with any type of authority.

[mess]

[straight up danger]

It's been a long and memorable winter, and as much as I hate to admit it, my pasty, dry skin and I are ready for some warmer temperatures and extended hours of sunlight. And even though it still feels far, far away, I am starting to get small hints of the spring season's impending arrival: birds chirping in the early morning and that unmistakable smell of dirt. So in honor of that spring silver lining, I've taken some steps to brighten up the house as a sort of welcoming...