Another Letdown
When the weather experts began hyperventilating about Winter Storm Elliott last week, it was hard not to have hope. Maybe this would be one of those "good" winters when there's snow in December.
It was not to be.
Ok, yes, we can at least brag about New York City's 9-degree Fahrenheit nighttime temps on Christmas Eve, but really the only people who get to, ahem, brag about those types of temperatures either live — and too often die — on the street or work outdoors. What have I got to brag about?
Seeing the occasional blue jay out on the fire escape when we finally do get snow?
Ok, I’ll brag. Modestly.
I did go out into Central Park on the day that Big, Bad Winter Storm Elliott dropped the temperatures more than 30 degrees in hours. By the time I headed out, bundled in my heaviest winter duds, the temperature was 19 F and falling.
If the photos aren’t particularly stunning, I should get extra points for being supremely uncomfortable taking them.
Important caveat: to all those suffering from loss of power or the loss of a loved one in this latest Storm of the Century, I send heartfelt condolences.
However, to those who had to dig cars out of snowed-in driveways or survive a hair-raising drive on black ice, it might be time to consider relocating. Not to a sunnier clime, though, remember, Miami is sinking and California is running out of water. I recommend a city that provides functioning public transportation. This allows people to enjoy the snow without having to drive in it.
I also recommend not traveling when the experts start hyperventilating.
New York City won’t start seeing snow — if we get any at all, that is — until mid-January at the earliest. This is not to say the city hasn't been socked earlier from time to time and that’s always an adventure.
But for now, everything is frozen solid and surrounded by a palette of grays and browns. No delicate white tracing of tree branches or the ephemeral shroud of quiet that snow brings to the city.
The snow hopefully will come to southeastern New York state and in so doing possibly give the rest of the state a badly needed break (don’t count on it, Buffalo, sorry). And when it does, we’ll be ready.
Leonard, the stunning American Elm across from the American Museum of Natural History, will be.
In the meantime, the other two-thirds of the United States who did get all that snow, remember that it’s temporary and that some nutcases in this world are mad with envy.
Not about the shoveling part, however. You’re on your own there.
Comments / 0