Monday, January 19, 2009

Snow and Dorchester

We went to the laundromat in the Field's Corner Shopping Center this morning. We intended to leave the house at 8:00 AM but shoveling duties set the departure time back to 8:45. Sydney Street was a slurry of slush but Dot Ave was as clear as if only rain had fallen over the past 24 hours. A tip of the hat to Boston's public works crews. Well done, gentleman and ladies manning the plows. This taxpayer salutes you for a job well done.

The parking lot at the Field's Corner Shopping Center was reasonably navigatable and the center's sidewalks were free of slippery hazards thanks to the storefront overhangs. We put a load of laundry into one of the establishment's advertised triple-load washers and headed on foot to the Tedeschi Convenience Store a few blocks south. All the sidewalks had been cleared along the route except the stretch in front of the local branch of the public library. We bought a newspaper and a snack at Tedeschi's and then headed to the adjacent Dunkin' Donuts outlet. This branch of Dunkin' Donuts is undergoing renovations and there wasn't any coffee to be sold. Sheepishly, we went back to Tedeschi for a cup of java and, once we were rung up the second time, we said, "Thanks again!" The cashier replied, "You're welcome, again!" and attended the next customer.

It takes more than ten inches of fluffy snow to shut down Dorchester. Fey ne'er-do-wells may wilt in their hot houses, blanching at the hint of a blizzard, but the sturdy people of Dorchester have errands to run and they don't let something as uncontrollable as the weather get in their way. Dorchesterites were out and about, commerce was humming, transactions were made and everyone was happy and satisfied. Though the landscape was smothered under a thick blanket of white bunting, life went on as usual.

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