Good Morning.

This actually has nothing to do with the Federal Shutdown; it's purely local.


It's November 15 in Boston. Our average day of "first frost" is anywhere between November 1-10, generally ocurring around November 3 historically.

We haven't had it yet.

It's been "cool", but as I walk to work, I'm very much in-tune with the overnight temperatures. The coldest I've seen so far is a mere 37 degrees, or "Three below Kilt".

My garden hung on all the way to Halloween. I can remember when the growing season here was Mother's Day to Columbus Day. But given that winter can now run all the way into mid-May, I don't dare. That's shifted to Memorial Day - Halloween, and sometimes Veteran's Day.

But along with walking to work, I also drive for a living, and this is where that pesky climate shift is most noticeable where I live.

Construction season used to end here on or about November 1. We'd get that aforementioned frost, the ground would freeze, and most routine work would stop.

That doesn't happen anymore.

There is literally no ceiling to the amount of work that the City of Waltham can do in the late season. Some days it was easier for me to tell you what streets were not dug up instead of where the work was.

I'm sure it's awesome for all those Union guys working 5 hours a day with 3 supervisors each, but for everybody that tries to make a living working on those same closed streets - it's not been much fun.

Being the northern tier of the blog probably clouds my judgement - I'd presume that the more southerly folks are amused at the thought of a construction "season".