Dave Epstein is a gift to everybody who cares about weather in Boston.
If you’re tracking this (possibly historic?) storm, his podcast is what you need. You can find Weather Wisdom (killer weather reports) and Growing Wisdom (gardening weather reports!) on Spotify / any podcast platform.
In the early days when Clover was a food truck business, we lived by changes in weather.
- Rain? Bad for sales (although we’d still see dozens of die-hard regulars waiting in line in the rain – really fills your heart).
- Too hot? We used to close the trucks if the forecast showed temps breaking 90°F before noon, and were known to buy movie tickets for our staff to enjoy the day off out of the heat.
- Lightning and thunder? These can pose real threats.
- First warm days in March? Boston lights up. You can’t prepare enough food – make sure you pack extra of everything!
Winter though? Winter is more subtle and nuanced. We learned about insulated boots that were also non-skid, wearing glove liners under latex gloves, how to pre-warm cutting boards with boiling water so that the chopped veggies wouldn’t freeze to them, how to get a burner going when it’s too cold for propane, how to combat the windows frosting over, and much more.
When Clover first opened for winter service out of a food truck in January 2010, we were the very first food truck here to do so. Until that point all food trucks closed up (and many owners took a long break to travel to other countries and wait out the winter). People thought we were crazy, and looking back it really was a bit nuts. And I’m probably at fault. I grew up in New England. And I LOVE inclement weather. Of course I like a blue sky and warm breeze as much as anything. But a big storm gets me excited. And a big WINTER storm? I feel like a kid again.
I think it’s the same love I have for looking up at the sky on a clear dark night. I love feeling little. I love feeling overwhelmed by the scale of the natural world around us. And snow blowing in your face? That’s such a feeling of being alive.
All to say, running food trucks back in the early Clover days trained me to pay a lot of attention to the weather.
I discovered Dave Epstein’s work a few years ago. He did a long-running weather segment on WBUR (one of Boston’s NPR radio stations). He’s just fantastic. He loves this stuff so much, he’s so knowledgable. I grew up loving nature documentaries, David Attenborough in particular. I think Dave Epstein’s enthusiasm for weather has that same infectious feeling. It’s awesome.
So when I heard Dave announce a little over a year ago that it was his last regular appearance on WBUR, it rocked my weather world. I reached out, introduced myself, and asked if I could help. Since then Clover has been sponsoring David’s podcast. This means we write him a check each month, and he shares with his listeners what we do at Clover. I love what he does, I’m glad we can help. What’s more Clover than paying attention to how the seasons change, and spreading a love for the natural world?
If you haven’t discovered David’s work please check out the following:
The photo above? Blue jumping off of our roof last big snow storm. He’s looking forward to doing it again this year!
