be prepared

Or... Is There Such a Thing as an Anti-Snow Dance?

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I'm not sure I have psychologically prepared (braced?) myself for the impending winter, but I needed to get things physically prepared. I already had hats, scarves, ColdGear, and a shovel. I just needed to complete my stockpile of supplies:

Coat to protect me to -30degrees? Check.

Boots to protect my feet to -40degrees? Check.

[I pray to God that I won't need to test the limits of those items.]

Gloves to keep the tips of my fingers warm? Check. 

And tires to keep the car on the road? Check. Check. Check. and Check.

Obviously it's a good thing I got all of this out of the way this weekend given that it snowed yesterday, but I was assured that I wouldn't see a flake until Thanksgiving. Or crap, did they mean the first real storm would be around Thanksgiving? Ugh, I'm dreading winter.

[[I drove the hour down to Freeport on Saturday to go to the L.L. Bean Flagship "campus." Oh my. Is it ever the sight to see. There are 5 (five!) L.L. Bean stores in Freeport alone. And then, once down there I discovered that Freeport is the perfect combination of small town, old New England ambiance combined with outlet shopping. Most of the outlet stores are in historic buildings: library, courthouse, apothecary & blacksmith shops. Okay, so I have no idea what the buildings once were, but this is what I imagine them to be. Despite my dubious building identification, it still remains that doing a bit of (restrained) shopping on Freeport's Main Street is quite the charming experience.]]

[[[And boy, was that one lengthy aside.]]]