GBL

The incredibly unbeautiful days that follow significant snowfall have begun, when the cycle of melt and freeze and a graying of the sky high piles begins. The ugly snow frustrates and complicates simple daily tasks like walking, parking and feeding meters, which jut out of snow piles just out of my reach. With another four to eight inches predicted for early next week, I can only look longingly at sandals and sun dresses and pray our world thaws soon. Gus and I have joked that our lives of late have taken on the mantra of the "Jersey Shore" cast with their days of "Gym, Tan, Laundry," although in our case tanning has replaced with, perhaps, blizzards.

The Olympic Winter Games have begun and I'm glued to the television. Currently, my attention is given to a speed skating qualifying race between a Canadian and New Zealander, a sport I don't give a thought to but every four years. The Olympics are one of those periods in life similar to the weeks of the Tour de France where, when the games finish, I wonder what on earth I used to do with my time.

During commercials and the biathlon, I'm devouring The Glass Castle: A Memoir, the retelling of one woman's nearly unbelievable childhood. Jeannette Walls' stories affect me deeply, frustrating, uplifting, inspiring, and for me, rather reassuring that there is someone in this world with quite a bit more crazy in her closet than me. Without a doubt one of the most unforgettable personal stories I have ever read.