Nemo

Thursday Evening

Nemo? Really?? Who comes up with these names? If they want us to be intimidated they should really come up with something fiercer. But then "Sandy" sounds pretty bland too, so I guess I shouldn't underestimate this one. No sign of foul weather yet, sunny and cold today, but not bitterly cold and very little wind.  However, the horses were all a little "on their toes" today as they often are when a storm is coming. The theory is that they have a sort of built in barometer and feel the air pressure changing. Below is a picture of the neighborhood pre-Nemo, at sunset Thursday.

Cambridge Waiting for Nemo

If we really do have a blizzard it could be interesting living on the 9th floor. We are prepared to just stay in from tomorrow afternoon through Sunday morning, especially if the power goes off since the elevators won't be working. We have plenty of food and I have run some extra water through the Britta filter and filled our largest cooking pot as well as the big pitcher for drinking water. We should have brought a Flashpan with us to Cambridge for cooking during power outages, but I didn't think of it. We have enough ready-to-eat food to last 3-4 days, and I can't imagine that things will be shut down that long. Computers and phones charged, flashlights and candles ready. Probably all for nothing.

Friday 8:00 AM

Still waiting. So far not a single snowflake.

Friday Afternoon

It is snowing now. Moving from light to moderate with some gusts of wind more apparent from up on the 9th floor than they were at street level. Still not too much accumulation yet, and not much below the freezing mark so roads and sidewalks mostly wet rather than snow covered.



Last Bus #1 down Mass Ave seen from our window.

Not much traffic, and our car is safely inside the basement garage. Mass transit shutting down at 3:30 and the governor has declared a state of emergency starting at noon and banned cars from the roads starting at 4:00.  There has been the usual run on the markets. I picked up a few things at the little market in Dover where everyone is less frantic. The Y closed early, so I took a walk around the neighborhood for exercise and took a few pictures.

Mass Ave in front of Harvard Yard

Harvard Square
 

Most of the shops and restaurants were closed, but guess who was still open? Baskin Robbins! Did I indulge? Sadly, no and I regret it now. Walking down the street eating an ice cream cone as a blizzard develops is an experience not everyone can claim but somehow at the time it didn't seem appealing.

I could have had an ice cream cone!
 

Below are a few more pictures from Dan's walk home through Harvard Yard just after dusk.

Memorial Church

Widener Library 

Friday Night

Since Friday night is usually our night to eat out, we had dinner at The Cellar, a terrific local place just a block and a half walk from our building and one of the few that was open as usual. I would recommend it any time, and especially during a blizzard......makes it easier to get a table on Friday night! Then we went home and watched the blizzard out of our window. Here are a few pictures and a short video clip from our window throughout the evening.



Snowing Hard

The snow is beginning to pile up.

A little later in the evening

 

The liquor store across the street had a steady stream of customers all evening

Getting harder to see out the window

Watch the wind howl below!

Saturday Morning

Still snowing, but not quite as hard. Mass Ave is completely empty of vehicles with the exception of the occasional snowplow or emergency vehicle. A little later it will be filled with pedestrians who find it easier to walk in the street than on the sidewalks, which have not all been cleared yet.

Early Saturday morning

Saturday Afternoon

We joined the rest of Cambridge and most of the rest of the east coast outdoors playing in the snow.

The drifts in front of our building are impressive!

The parking meter is nearly buried

And so is the Zip car

 

The bicycle option is pretty much shut down too



Its strange to see Mass Ave. in front of campus completely without traffic.
 

Entering campus, we find students engaged in some innovative forms of winter fun.

 

Sledding down the steps of Widener Library on dining hall trays.
 Below watch Marge take a turn. Dan is taking the video.

We get a passing student to take a few pictures of us together. We were having trouble getting pictures because our fingers are a bit frozen by now, and also Dan's phone keeps shutting down due to the cold. Our new friend George takes the pictures below on his phone, and emails them to Dan. We take a picture for him too.

 

 

In front of Memorial Church

 

Last stop is a visit to John Harvard, who appears to have been in a snowball fight.

 

 

Then we head home through the winter wonderland, grateful for the warm hats, gloves, and socks we got as Christmas gifts from family. We are putting them to good use!