A devil of a blog.

The snow slacked off this morning, but at one point it was still snowing while the sun was out. What to call that? The Devil’s beating his wife… in a meat locker?

It occurred to me that referring to rain while the sun shines as “the Devil beating his wife” might be old fashioned, but I’m not sure. Anyway, it’s a strange way to talk about the weather, and raises some other odd questions too. Surely the Devil’s wife knew that he might pose a risk of domestic violence, so why did she marry him? Because she just wuved him, and wanted to help change him? Because she’s a she-devil who can give as much abuse as she receives?

Other effects of the 36-hour snowstorm were buildings downtown spitting ice. After the snow stopped, it wasn’t quite cold enough to freeze everything in place—unusual, something to do with the jet stream—and the building across from mine, called One North Wacker, was so loose with ice that building management roped off the sidewalks around most of the structure.

The part-meltage also spawned enormous icy puddles near crosswalks, big enough for polar bears to hide in, it seemed. Which inspired pedestrians to hop from the curb to the street, only sometimes avoiding a big, cold splash. It was a perfect day for boots.