the blizzard's aftermath.

in
a photo account of montclair, nj post-storm. all photos taken by my brother (since i was stuck here in the city).
the after photo

dreamscape

approaching the church

christmas cheer

flying dog

across the street

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

new yorkers were encouraged to stay home today. 
work was cancelled. the day was suddenly mine and free.
my family was only twenty minutes away in new jersey. however with the 20-24 inches of snow on the roads they were as good as across the world.

so i was snowbound. all by my lonesome. 

and what's a girl to do when the day stretches long before her? clean, of course. 
i scrubbed the stove. the inside of the fridge. i soaked the garbage and recycling cans (in the bathtub, no less). got down on all fours and worked away at the spots on our aging wood floors. 

and when all was said and done i took a walk. 

i felt how the snow changes the city. how a quiet takes hold. inundates everything, everyone. how when the snow settles, but has yet to be cleared the city takes deep, gasping breaths. reaching for the stillness, the calm. pulling it into itself. storing it away. reveling in the short time it  is allowed to simply be. to exist. and when no one is looking--when they're shielding their eyes from the snow, or digging a car out of the snowbank, the city exposes its heart. for just one moment. it opens up, unfolds, unfurls. feels the electric cold against its great, naked nerve. and then closes again. recharged. ready for the next. 

if you're really quiet. if you stand really still. and you get really lucky. you'll feel it--the reverberations of it--in your bones. and the heart carries on. 

around noon today i enjoyed the first hint of blizzard...

in

first snow of the season! (a blizzard, no less)

but as i walked home around nine tonight enjoyment would not have been the word i used. nor would i employ hint when referring to the blizzard. 

let's just say, i had my umbrella facing headlong into the wind, my free arm shielding my eyes from the potent precipitation, and i still didn't think i was gonna get through the block and the half to the subway. 

it's gonna be interesting to see what kind of a world i wake to tomorrow, because it sure as heck is snowing. and i mean snowing. 

(rough as it may prove to be, don't think i'm not enjoying every second. the sound of white: thrusting wind and city silence.)

a day late, but...

in
merry christmas


i hope you had (and continue to have) a beautiful holiday season.

new york (and i imagine much of the northeast) looks like the innards of a snow globe right now. 
and a white christmas (or boxing day, really) is a lovely thing!