Snow Day

What with the Snowpocalypse going on all over the US I took some time to read last week. Living with my sister and her fiance is sort of like having my own mini library. They both read a lot and their taste in books, while similar to mine, is different enough that they own things I wouldn't normally buy. Thanks to that I'm currently reading The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Liking it so far. Anyway, here are just a few of the bookshelves in our house:

But even with the snow I did get some activity in. We shoveled. A lot.
And then Joni and I decided to go for a snowshoe about town. It was my first time snowshoeing and it's not easy - I thought I would be more prevented from sinking into the snow than I was - but it was certainly a good workout! And a good was to get around without a car in weather my bike can't handle.
As you can see the snow was quite deep. And we just keep getting hit! It snowed a lot again this Tuesday and Friday, and I heard we're getting more this coming week. I want it to melt so I can bike again.
Now, I certainly am capable of biking now, the streets are cleaned up and not that wet, but because of the sheer volume of snow we've gotten, the snowbanks are sticking out into the road more than usual, which forces me to bike more in the road since the shoulder has all but disappeared, and I feel less safe in traffic now.
But we had a great time nonetheless and I will try to enjoy the snow while it lasts instead of lamenting it.

Madame Bovary and Winter

It's winter, which means I ride my bike significantly less than I would like to. I miss the fall when I could dress like this:

and truly be warm enough. Now I need a heavier coat, some tights under my jeans, a scarf, thicker mittens, and a big ol' hat. I do still bike to Wistariahurst every week since it's so close, and they say "I can't believe you rode your bike! It's freezing out!" But then I think about people in Canada and Denmark biking in snowstorms and much colder weather than here so I feel guilty if I don't brave the cold at least sometimes. I will admit that it's way too cold to ride the 18 miles to work. Plus, with the short days the sun is right in drivers' faces when I leave work so I wouldn't want to risk getting hit by a car. Even a bike-aware driver can't see you if the sun is in his face.
But I will long for days like the one above. I saw this girl locking up outside the Dam Cafe while I was working inside. Fabulous red fall coat and I was happy to see a fellow biker. Here's what my table looked like:

For Christmas I got a new basket for my bike as well as a new light, so I'll have to set those up on a warmer day. I'll post pictures soon. I'm very excited to be able to haul slightly more groceries now!

You would think that with winter here and me holed up inside more often, I would be reading a TON. Nope, I have instead been spending a significant portion of my time playing Scribblenauts and the Professor Layton games on my Nintendo DS. However, last night I finally finished reading Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I wasn't sure I would like it at first since I didn't like Madame Bovary herself (and the last time I didn't like the main characters - in Lady Chatterly's Lover - I hated the book and it took a lot of work to get through it) but I ended up enjoying it.

It's actually a wonderful comment on "the grass is greener" viewpoints and the influence that novels can have on us. Emma Bovary is so miserable in her life because she thinks that all love must be like the love in novels and that fine things will make her happy. She is just so deluded that when she is confronted with reality it completely unravels her. This is the kind of book I wish I had read in college so I could discuss it with other book-lovers with the guidance and insight of a professor.

And I think even now people can be influenced like that by novels. If I expected love to be like novels I would probably be disappointed with what I have with Dave because it's not a constant torrent of passion and heightened emotion. Most of the time we are simply content together, but I'm a realist and I like it that way.