What is on your mind if you live in Syracuse in mid-late February? Snow
statistics.
On average, Syracuse endures 117" of snowfall per year. If you insist
that I need a source for this, my source is Ph. He has, without flinching,
handled the largest share of shoveling this year. One hundred and seventeen
inches equals just about ten feet. If you don’t trust my source, maybe you
should do a google for the "National Weather Service" or "snowfall totals" or
"enough of this torment already."
This year we had 117" before the end of January. Ph. would probably say that
he shoveled 110" inches of it and that I struggled with the other 7" before
crying out from flesh-shredding back spasms. I, on the other hand, would offer in my
own defense that we have just one snow shovel.
Ever curious about snow statistics, I went online myself, checked out what
data the internet had to report. And I found the blog for the
New York State Golden Snowball Award,
which tracks the prestigious annual honor for the city that suffers the most
snowfall among Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Binghamton, and Albany. No contest!
The site reports that No. 1 Syracuse has taken on 127.8" of snow this year,
although as I look out the window right now, I think their measure is not up to
date. Make that 127.9…128….
I can’t continue to watch. Of course, snow isn’t the only thing
accumulating on Westmoreland Ave this winter. I have
a CCCC paper to
spit-shine (it’s written-ish, if I can decide which six pages to graft
from the diss), a dis’tation to finish, a book chapter draft to collaborate, and
teach teach teaching to do.
Not to mention resuscitating EWM. Or unburying it, at the very least.
Perhaps I will have more to say about these accumulations again sometime.
I have now lived in S. FL for 2.75 years. And it has only hit me within the last 3 or so months that other people in the world may/may not be dealing with 128 inches of snow… In other words, I am starting to realize why employers in the Sunshine State calculate the geography of the state as part of the salary they pay… (in case non-Floridians did not know, employers in FL consider the location part of the benefits – which is one of the reasons salary/pay is depressed in the Sunshine State). Honestly, though it sucks, after 3 years of living down here, I can’t say that that is not totally unreasonable…
Which is to say, D: I feel your pain (sort of).
I realize it’s a trade-off. The snow stats are on my mind because the drifts have seemed especially deep this winter. I don’t mind winter, but neither will I mind leaving behind Syracuse’s especially deep deluge. But it’s true, no matter where you live, there will be weather: hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, sweltering summers, year-round bursts of pollen, nine months of rain, etc.