New England, New England
March 9, 2013 7 Comments
For all that it is a beastly cold place (8 inches of snow and counting, says my old mate Tegan) and people don’t know what to do with their lovely seafood (boiled and dipped in butter. I ask you!), I rather like New England. And I rather miss it. There’s something about the blizzards and snow drift and constant rain that casts a charm. I’m damned if I know what it is exactly, but whatever it is, I miss it. Oh, Boston. You pretty, pretty thing. I wish I were back amongst your lovely old red brick.
Incidentally, Boston was also where I bought my first camera. I was a bloody awful photographer then, brand new and with no idea how to point it and what to shoot. ‘Still’, you might say, ‘you recorded all your happy memories. That counts for something!’ Hah. If only. By stupidity and sloppiness, I have since permanently deleted two years’ worth of photograhps from my hard drive. Many tears were spent over that spilt milk, I can tell you.
However! Praise be social media, I had uploaded a few of those pictures on Facebook. Not the best ones, just ones recording the first snow, the first snowman, and so on. Since I’m mourning the crisp coldness of those New England mornings, glinting around the edges after a cleansing snow-storm, here is a set reminiscent of those days. Forgive the rank amateurness of the shots.
Tumi aekta bari Somervill-e kinte chao?
(It’s too cold for me there, and the American academic tenure system is too brutal, and I doubt that I’ll ever be back long-term. But yes, I do miss the people and the community. And in fact I wish that I had known you there.)
I know! To have known you in Somerville would’ve meant far more free-ranging adda and interesting people, and far less mad-scheduling all around. If I ever have the money for it, and laws permitting, nischoi kinte chai.
And it’s likewise a shame that you weren’t able to come here to UK as you had hoped — for I would so love to have a partner-in-crime here. That’s another quality of Boston: it’s easy as a newbie to gain entree to social networks because people will like and respect you for what you know and what you can do, whereas here in UK it’s more about whom you know and whom you were at school with. I will reiterate, though, that you looked remarkably happy and healthy when I saw you in Kolkata in January – and that made me feel glad.
Our second day’s snowfall was perfect for play and packing, but too deep for a snowman. I was going to mention it in the last post, so I was delighted to see the pictures you’d saved from FaceBook. Of course today was sunny and warmer (4C) and it will get to 50F (5 C) Monday, but for a brief period it’s postcard snow again, just like the scenes you sent us from Calcutta. N.B. I have discovered solar panels provide no purchase, like shingles, for snow to cling to. At any moment an entire roof’s worth can suddenly avalanche onto the driveway without warning.. New England weather can be challenging, frustrating, entertaining, and even endearing – but never boring. I’m glad you got the chance to experience it, and I hope you’re fully recovered.
It’s unthinkable to refer to 5C as ‘warmer’ if one lives in the tropics like I do, but I distinctly remember a 6C morning after four straight months of incredible cold. I walked out in a tshirt and jeans, carrying only a thin sweater in case I felt cold later. 6C and sunshine after a New England winter feels like a heatwave.
Recovered from your illness, that is, We never get over the weather here,
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