Today's update for "New England or Bust" - #2 and #3
"Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". You may be familiar with this creed....but again, in Maryland, most if it doesn't apply. Even the slightest flurry can cause closures, including the Federal Government, and when the government closes, you guessed it, no mail. Well, last week we had a warning that we were going to have "serious winter storm". Luckily, we had about 6 inches, and not the 12 inches that the rest of the state saw (and after last winter, I have to say that 6 inches really isn't that bad), but the schools in the area were closed, including Matt's school, along with the entire base. And, it takes a lot to have the base closed. The weathermen were warning everyone to stay off the roads to allow the plows to do their work. Matt went out to shovel around 4pm, and as Jack and I watched him, I noticed that there was mail in our mailbox. Even though the weatherman said to stay off the roads, and EVERYTHING was closed, our mailman not only braved the roads, but also trudged through 6 inches of snow on an un-shoveled driveway and sidewalk to get our mail to us. Apparently, up here in New England, they really stick to the creed!
Ok, so nothing is as bad as the "right turn to turn left" in New Jersey...but the left turn up here is no picnic either. We haven't travelled much yet, so this might just be a "Newport" thing, but there are no left turn lanes. You quickly learn to drive in the right lane so that you do not get stuck waiting behind the cars trying to turn left against endless oncoming traffic. Maybe things are just slower paced up here on "the island", you have the time to wait...but a left turn lane sure would be nice sometimes when I'm trying to get past everyone who is turning left to go to the endless number of Dunkin Donuts (maybe that should be #4 - people joke about Starbucks being on every corner...there are by far more Dunkin' Donuts per square mile up here than coffee shops in Seattle. Around here, I guess America does truly run on Dunkin')
For those of you interested in what our new digs look like, check out my Newport House pics on Facebook!
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