Adrift in the 21st Century
After a surprise storm in late October, downstate New York hadn’t seen any real snow until yesterday. Admittedly many people prefer it that way (it sure makes driving easier), but I’m of the view that you can’t have a genuine east coast winter without the stuff. Besides, without the snow the countryside just looks bare and dreary.
For now though, winter is back on schedule. There were even people out skiing at Rockefeller State Park.
Swan Lake – Frozen and Snowed Over.
In spite of the early snowstorm at the end of October, it’s actually been a very warm winter here in New York so far. Feels a lot like winter on the west coast, except warmer. On the bright side, the days are starting to get longer, albeit very slowly.
Here is the view from lower Manhattan on a gray, blustery morning.
We are all creatures of habit, but some of us more than others. When I was living in NYC in spring 2008, I would frequently take the 1 subway line up to 59th street, walk a few blocks across to Central Park, and make my way northward to the reservoir. I almost always passed by the children’s zoo, the sailboat pond, the Belvedere ‘castle’, and the great lawn on the way to the reservoir. It was always a nice way to spend the afternoon, and clear my head of whatever funk I was in. I made the trip more than a dozen times from March through May of that year.
Today I needed to catch the train to visit my grandparents, so I replicated the route I used to take, in reverse order. As usual the fountain was running in the reservoir, and I was lucky enough to catch a rainbow. Even in the middle of the densest part of New York, you can still find a little tranquillity, if you look.
A good friend was in town to look at business schools. I took the afternoon off to wander about central Manhattan, camera in hand. We started at the main Columbia campus, meandered through Central Park, and ended up on the west side. I came across this particular building around 90th street. The long hot summer has finally moved on, leaving the sort of cool crisp weather that makes fall my favorite season in NY.