Cut Once.

Very cold out there today. Bright and clear and clean and cold. And they've got us under a Winter Storm Watch, which of course means that we've had to sound the claxons around here, and we've got one of the interns working to hook up a revolving red light so that everything looks enough like an emergency to justify what a massive set of emergencies the Winter Storm Watch will engender. First emergency: let's say it snows. Do I then bring the rain gauge in to melt it to see how much measurable precip we got? The fancies seem to want a little bit of everything— wintry mix late tomorrow night followed by a change to freezing rain and then rain. Actual weather possibilities: (a) gray and cloudy and no precip; (b) seventeen inches of snow; (c) fifty degrees and sunny; (d) the thing(s) they're calling for.

The local newses are very, very, very excited. And I don't blame them. All that SuperDoppler FirstAlert StormWatch equipment doesn't mean a damn thing if we run July through November without anything whatsoever to light up the radar. Those poor kids are bored out of their skulls. Well, grab the WXII NewsChannel 12 WinterCast storm gear, people. Pull on the hats and gloves and ThermaFleece vests. It may, or may not, snow and sleet. Some. Maybe. Be ready.

I'm acting like an ass. If it looks like it'll do anything, that'll be me staying up all night and flipping on the porch light and looking again and again at the ANYLF WeatherDeck to see if anything's piling up. And watching NewsChannel 12. Or Eric Chilton, who's just so damn trustworthy.

Growing up, when it snowed, we'd measure off the top of the grill. That metal would get cold, and more snow would stick there.

Local conditions: A happy morning in the shed, a small narrative problem solved. The short of it: Do not get too cute when using concrete as a metaphor. This afternoon, over to help a friend who's moving out from underneath a house in (for?) which he's got no chance of finishing the reno he had planned. Baseboards. Wainscoting. Prime and paint. Electric. He's moving out of town. He wants something else. I myself don't want that thing, but I know a small part of what it is to need some help. So.

Measure twice out there, friends and fans of weather. We're under a Winter Storm Watch. This is serious business.