To get to the other side of town before police realized he'd set an Audi on fire.

The Urban Pantheist discovers a creative effort, on a Riverway bench.

Overmatter reports:

... A crowd of us waited two hours for the 73 bus to arrive in Harvard Square this afternoon, and when it did, people were so awful -- shoving parents with babies and old people with canes in order to climb aboard before it filled up. And so the weak and the nice people were left behind until the next bus -- which took another half an hour. "It's Darwinian," I said to a nice woman in a nice hat. She agreed, and liked my idea of making people take a number as they arrived at the underground bus stop. ...

Matt O'Malley reports:

... As I was stuck on the Riverway, I noticed an older woman in a small compact car that was paralyzed in the snow. She couldn't get any traction and seemed to be rolling ever so slightly back and forth. It was clear that she wasn't going to be able to move on her own. I pulled off road, got out of the car and began to make my way over to give her a push. I wasn't the only one. At the same time, an older black man and a middle-aged Latino guy had the same idea. We three guys, looking like a Benetton ad, walked over to a very grateful stranded pedestrian and began pushing her car. It was difficult and messy (we had to dig out from behind the wheels with our hands), but after five minutes or so of pushing the car back and forth and guiding her steering, we were able to help this motorist. She drove off. We three shook hands and wished each other a Merry Christmas. We didn't do it for any other reason other than she needed help; and we could.

Photo of more street do-gooders.

Evan and Amanda walk nine miles, from Franklin Park to the Common. His account is complete with photos.

Geese crossing Longwood Avenue at the Riverway this morning.

[EDIT: Service was restored by mid-afternoon]

Today, I was riding the E-Line outbound to Riverway a little after noon when we were told that Brigham Circle would be the last stop and we should all transfer to the #39 bus.

Upon the #39's arrival at Riverway, it was clear what the problem was. An inbound train (Type 8 lead car, Type 7 behind) was stuck at the sharp curve in the road. My first instinct was to think "Damn Breada probably derailed" but that was not the case.

The pantograph on the rear car was badly bent and twisted. MBTA crews were working diligently to get the train moving, but it looked like they had their work cut out for them. No word yet on exactly what caused the accident.

I had to use the crappy digital zoom on my even crappier camera phone to get a shot of it, so I apologize for the quality, but it was the best I could do given the circumstances.