This absurdly mild winter has been affecting the Hub's housing market in different ways, that's for sure. But here's a corker: A Cambridge homeowner was cited for having an illegal pool in his backyard. The only problem? The pool was supposed to be a skating rink that a father bought to hang with his son. Per Billy Baker in The Globe:
“I had this great vision that I’d be out there at night with my boy," [Gavin Peters, a Google engineer] said. And that vision came true, when he was finally able to skate with his 5-year-old son, Nick.
“It was great,’’ he said. And it lasted for exactly an hour and fifty minutes on Jan. 20.
Peters eventually talked to the city, and convinced them to rescind the citation. And he got encouragement from the amateur skating-rink set, which has struggled to come to grips with this mild winter, commiserating online and such. Peters, a Toronto native, does worry about next year, though.
He plans to take down a small tree to expand his rink a few feet, but there is nothing he can do about this region and its horrible weather. “The only thing I’m guilty of is living too far south," he said. “I don’t know why I moved to this tropical country."
· Warm Winter Earns Rink a Cold Reception [Globe]
· Boston Home Sales and the Weather [Curbed Boston]