Snowmageddon 2010 - addendum (x-posted from Live Journal)

I enjoyed the blessed irony of this and just had to share what has gone down in my living room.

First off, please understand that there is a massive snowstorm going on outside. It is so vicious and drifting that both crows and common finches alike cannot fly straight in to the wind. They hang there as if in suspended animation, wings beating fruitlessly as the snow whips past them in a semi-sheer curtain. These are the snows of my youth where winter took hold of everything and throttled it in to submission, bidding it to rest beneath the blanket of white because it was giving no other choice. These were times when snow tunnels and snow forts and snow men and angels grew out of the landscape, the product of fertile childrens' imaginations let loose upon a white crystalline palette. I'm smiling as I sit here to think of all the children who have endured a brown winter bursting forth from their houses to play and sled. We'll share a common memory and a fondness. I'm looking forward to the wet sting of the stuff as it creeps in between my clothing and skin to melt. We're old friends.
In the midst of this our puppy looks out the back door longingly, wanting to play. He makes the circuit between our big back glass doors and the fireplace, where a gas fire is plugging away merrily at the chill that's settled in the downstairs.

Before I began my C++ programming homework, before I took to finishing a pair of knit socks I've been working on since August, and before I could allow myself to go exercise, I checked my email quickly. I discovered that there was an email there that I'd been waiting for for a while now. The Japan-America Society of Greater Philadelphia finally announced dates for the spring festivities within Philadelphia.
We had gone last year to several events planned for this, including the taiko drummers concert and an official tea ceremony that we partook of and enjoyed immensely. As it was all happening a month before going to Japan, we were excited to take it in. Now that we've gone, we find that any small shot in the arm of the culture we loved so much is a wonderful treat.
The date for the Cherry Blossom Festival was contained within, along with a link to partake in a special event where the top sushi chefs in Philly prepare the aforementioned fare and we would get to sample along with drinks. I excitedly bought us two tickets and thought ahead to the beautiful pink blossoms that would explode in Fairmount Park again this year.
Then I turned to look outside and laughed. It's like Hoth. Anything with sense has bedded down and the trees outside haven't even thought about forming the buds of spring yet. But here I was dreaming of April with it's chill breezes and another kind of storm - that of falling pink cherry blossoms. The dichotomy amused me.

If anybody will be in the area and plans on attending, give a shout. It'll be fun to see familiar faces there. it's a wonderful event.

Now... on to homework and the rest of the day.