Itinerant Air-Cooled

xyzzy wrote: ↑

Thu May 24, 2018 7:37 pm

FTFY:

Need background. That looks intriguing.
Did you have to plow a path for that splitty?

I had to shovel my way out of the dining room slider, up the back stairs and over to that Lincoln and I had to shovel it out from under its snow sarcophagus to get it away from the icicles due to form as the roof slowly melted. I remember that day. I remember that day. I remember that day. Lawdy, I remember that day . . .
Colin

Winter - - - - - - - is another story.


I'm quoting myself above and will not disagree with our VW-itinerary mensch, Colin; winters in Rochester can, have been, and will be rough.

I was merely trying to point out that once winter gives way to non-winter, it can be very pleasant here. That's all.

BusBassist wrote: ↑

Tue May 29, 2018 8:48 pm

Winter - - - - - - - is another story.


I'm quoting myself above and will not disagree with our VW-itinerary mensch, Colin; winters in Rochester can, have been, and will be rough.

I was merely trying to point out that once winter gives way to non-winter, it can be very pleasant here. That's all.

Well truly, I have a huge photo collection of the incredible gorgeousness outside of the city itself, silhouettes of people I love along the coast of Lake Ontario at dusk on Memorial Day weekend after a canoe paddle, summer pastoral splendor lolling under the under the blue skies, afternoons at the county fairs, picnics with epic water balloon battles, fall colors at Letchworth State Park, and too few photographs of early winter along the parkway with those incredible birches against the snow and the slate blue grey waters, farm houses and barns. I lived that countryside outside of Rochester for thirteen years. I drove those winters and have a pile of stories of my daily 29 mile commute in horrendous weather on top of the fact that my business required driving all around all day in the middle, then 29 miles back. I wouldn't trade it in for anything. In the country, we relied on each other because we absolutely had to. It was mandatory to stop and help those who had slid off the road in the biting wind and blowing snow, and do what you could to get them rolling again. It was a serious hard-bitten cold-as-hell experience at times, but the chili and the couch blankets and the Christmas lights and the gas stove were sustaining counterpoints to late night snow shoveling.

It is a supreme waste of time to judge the beauty and the experience of one place over another, or to *actually* criticize the climate of one place over another, The climate of a place is so intrinsic a part of the experience that to dismiss it or criticize it is to dismiss the experience. I do love to complain about it to gather the texture and memory of it all. I was the maniac who drove out in lake effect blizzards in my BMW 5 Series to Buffalo and back against all warnings so I could enjoy tossing the car around free of other drivers because most sane people stayed home as suggested. Then, I would wrestle the garden hose out of the mud room and out onto the driveway and spray that poor car down with hot water out of the water heater drain. You had to rinse fast and with good pressure to get the salt and snow beards off the car before it froze and congealed. Crazy. I loved it. I complained bitterly. My fingers would hurt like hell back in the house, but my car never did rust, either. Then I would complain to all who'd cross my path that I had a lot of work to do out in the frozen hibernating garage, and it was such a long slow warm up before I'd finally get my cars out in May. But it was beautiful every single day.
Buy a cup of coffee for any HVAC or appliance service tech if you run into one at a Yellow Goose or whatever. Their days can be brutal.
Colin