Another day in Maine, another foot of snow. It’s been quite the frosty winter this year, which is a nice change from the eerie, barren landscape of last year, even if it means more shovel work and those pesky parking bans. Who doesn’t love street parking? Eh? EH?
Needless to say, it’s been snowing all day. Judging by the buildup on the cars parked across the street, I’d have to estimate we’ve gotten about six inches so far, but it’s a thick, wet snow this time around, so there’s no drifting like there was for the last storm. Can I just say here how silly it is that we’re now naming snow storms? I mean, naming hurricanes I get, but snow storms? Really? Is the sensationalism of modern media that desperate for hype that they need a proper noun to freak people out about a weather phenomenon that *might* be a bit dangerous? I mean, it’s snow, people. It’s slippery. It’s icy. It messes up traffic. It pulls down power lines. It’s a pain in the neck, and yes–at the wrong place, and at the wrong time, it can certainly be dangerous. But does giving it the name Nemo or whatever else they’ve named this one really done anything but waste time? Just saying…
Ok! I’m done ranting. It’s actually rather pretty, even knowing that I’ll soon have to go out and dig out the car, move it to one of the specified parking lots, and then hike back to the apartment in the sludge. The tree branches are just thick with snow. I’m a bit surprised we haven’t lost power. The snow is so sticky it’s actually lining the clotheslines with about two inches of snow, diametrically. Crazy!
Writing wise, though, I must say snow storms have proven to provide the absolute best conditions for unexpected productivity. Just yesterday, I whipped out 3.6k of a new (sort of) story draft, and today another 2.5k. That’s two Get Out of Writing Free cards in two days, which is a little crazy for me. Still, I’m more than happy to take it, whether I end up using those cards or not. I’m just ridiculously thrilled that the story I’m hammering out is going so smoothly so far. Maybe it’ll hang itself up at some point and it’ll become work again, but for now, it’s a delightful distraction. I find my fingers itching to write moreof it, to see where it goes, to meet new characters. Here’s hoping it keeps writing itself–it’s a good fifth of the way towards being a novella. Eeek! :)
Maggie Slater 