Steady Blue

Walking down Boylston Street this morning on the way to find a birthday gift for our nephew and his wife (their birthdays are a day apart!), we paused to admire the reflection of the old John Hancock building in the shiny facade of the "new" John Hancock building. 

The new building was designed by I.M. Pei, and it was constructed in the early 1970's.  I was in Boston attending college soon after this tower opened, and at that time, it became infamous for its many falling glass windows.  The old John Hancock building has a lighted weather beacon on its top.  Depending on current conditions, it will transmit either a steady or a blinking light in shades of red or blue.  Here's a handy poem to help you decipher what the signals mean:

Steady blue, clear view
Flashing blue, clouds due
Steady red, storms ahead
Flashing red, snow instead

If you should see a flashing red signal in the summer time, it means that a Red Sox game has been cancelled.  In 2004 after the Red Sox won the World Series, the lights flashed red and blue and another line was added to the poem, “Flashing blue and red, when The Curse of the Bambino is Dead!”

Now you know!