Wednesday, October 12, 2005
OH NO ... SNOW
Sheep Meadow, Central Park, NYCIt was so much fun the first time. Catching snowflakes with bare hands; even sticking your tongue out to get a taste.
What used to be seen only in the movies is now actually falling down on you, on all the rooftops and all over the ground. You welcome with glee its accumulation as you bury your boots in them. Indeed, experiencing snowfall for the first time can be a magical trip; turning an ecstatic adult back into a child again.
As snowfall becomes as natural a phenomenon to you as rainfall in Manila, you sort of feel bad at first when you find yourself detesting an impending snowstorm. What used to be delightful is now troublesome. All that salting and shoveling is a lot of work.
Accumulated snow turns into awful slush that can tarnish your leather shoes; not to mention wet your socks with freezing water. If not slush then, they become perilous sheets of ice that coat the sidewalks and streets. Did you ever slip and fall hard on your butt? Well, it’s not as painful as the pain of embarrassment for having slipped and fallen hard on your butt in plain sight of about a hundred people; although some are also slipping and falling hard on their butts along with you.
As pretty as it is in the beginning, snow can be as unwelcome a sight as an overstaying relative.
The above photo was taken during one of New York’s bitter winters with the temperature hovering below zero degrees Fahrenheit. I had just purchased a pair of Columbia snow boots that could withstand a minus 20 degree temperature, which I tested by trekking along the path that cuts through Central Park from East 79th Street to West 59th Street. I used a Yashica pocket camera with Advantix film. It was such a dreary winter afternoon that only various shades of gray colored the entire landscape. Wintertime in Manhattan can be a drag but with proper clothing, it becomes manageable.
Labels: Life in New York
posted by Señor Enrique at 6:49 AM
