you can spare six minutes.

regardless of your politics, please watch this video. the information after the four minute mark is shocking.

longing for snow.

it's been an odd kind of winter here in the northeast; mid-january and barely a inch of snow on the ground.
i may be one of the few to admit it, but i am aching for snow. not just snow, but actual accumulation. i grew up around syracuse, ny and went to college in buffalo, ny (#1 and #9 respectively in U.S. cities with the highest snowfalls) making my baseline snow tolerance quite high. a storm isn't something to quiver at unless it's predicted to drop more than a foot in a few hours. certainly snow storms can be dangerous but when compared with the type of weather events other parts of the world face, heavy snow falls seem quaint and cozy.
the photo above is from the last real snow storm i can remember since moving from buffalo northerneastern new york. it was valentines day 2007. i can't imagine a better way to spend valentines day than snuggled up in a warm house watching the snow fall!