Last Week's Snow

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.

                                                          Wu-Men

I am not usually the person who posts poetry, but I really liked this one. The first snow of the year was a week ago. It was delicate and charming, a welcome arrival for the beginning of the year.

 

These weedy little daisy flowers were still hanging on. My friend at the community garden said they bloom when everything else is brown, and here is the proof.
 

The garden looked seasonally appropriate.
 

The milkweed pods still had their seeds. I guess they disperse in the spring.
 

I gathered pots of snow which I melted down to water the houseplants with. They always enjoy rain showers in the summer, so I thought the snow would be beneficial. They seemed to like it. This was also the last day of the tree, seen in the corner.
 

The next day it snowed again, and what was forecast as a dusting quickly got out of hand.
 

It was Saturday, running the usual weekend errands soon became an ordeal.
 

The daylight drained away and everything got quiet.
 

The next day, the weather got warm, the snow started to melt, now it feels like spring.

Midwinter

I bought a new camera. I had been planning on buying a cheap video camera to mimic security camera footage for another project I am working on. But the man at B & H led me down the line of display cases to a beautiful camera with a Leica lens that also shoots video. His selling argument was that I could always shoot at a lower quality to imitate security footage.

The camera is a huge improvement over my 10 year old Canon. I wandered around a little bit trying out the camera. It makes me so happy that L'impasse (dead end) is still on 8th street. There used to be lots of crazy clothing stores and funky shoe stores, now only a few remain. I would love to see the Valentine's Day date involving these outfits.

A tropical rain storm interrupted my camera exploration, and despite various groundhog predictions of spring, winter returned. There has been a spate of decorative snow, sticking mostly on trees and grass, leaving passges clear. The best kind of snow for the city really.

The elm trees in Union Square were so pretty.

The sad blue building hasn't looked this good since the misguided addition of a glass curtain walll obscured all its cast iron details.

It was about here that I realized that I could change the image format between square, rectangular and panorama. Unfortunately, I also changed the image size so all these pictures are only good for the web.

I am getting more familiar with the camera controls.

A little later, the sun came out and all the snow melted off the trees, water cascaded down branches and the awnings sparkling in the light.

Finally a Good Blizzard

After that strange December with its mild temperatures and blooming flowers, we finally got some winter weather. I woke up yesterday with a cocoon of snow around me. I did not go outside while the blizzard raged. I worked on my dream images and made stew. 

When the storm died down, the young son dragged us outside to see the transformed world.

Someone arranged a discarded tree giving us the festive holiday tableau that was missing four weeks ago.

This morning was crystal clear and beautiful. The neigbors wandered around smiling and greeting each other. New Yorkers really do like their snow, until it gets disgusting.

Blue February

Usually I like February. When the sun is out, the light is beautiful, there is usually a good blizzard, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day. But this year it has been so gloomy. Icy cold days followed by pitiful snow mixed with sleet.

The frozen sidewalk near my house has aquired a layer of grime that offers a little traction.

The piles of snow have strata of grey representing each miserable storm. Although I had work to do on my new street art idea, I could stay in the gloomy house. So I went to Central Park, which usually restores my sense of New York.

I started out near the Metropolitan which seemed like the right place to be on a cloudy day in February.

Everything felt different inside the park.

I have been noticing the bleached bark of the London Plane trees.

They are a bit luminous.

The sun fought its way out adding a little glitter to the frozen puddles. The day became brighter but the sun never really got free from the clouds. I hope the weather turns less punishing.

I really wish I had these bushes in my garden.

More Ice, More Cold

Our latest winter storm varied between snow and sleet, leaving a fine icy glaze on everything and throwing the subway system into a Victorian swoon. I love the ice coated trees shining as if they were made of glass. It is only noticeable with the sun behind the ice, so it makes photographs difficult.

I am still scouting around the Holland Tunnel trying to find the right view for my dream picture.

It was so cold out, I get chilled when I look at this picture.

Silly Snow

Our historic blizzard turned into a nice little bit of snow. It is pretty snow, but perhaps not worth all the craziness or what Pat Kiernan of NY1 called placing "the entire city under house arrest"

Still, I was only moderately inconvenienced by the lockdown. I felt bad for people who get paid by the hour especially those who work in the evening.

One of the guys who lives at the shelter near my subway stop was hanging around yesterday while the storm was tapering off. He is a bit ravaged by drink or drugs, but he always smiles at me and says hello. He was watching the snow, his battered face lit with joy. He said, "isn't it beautiful? It's so clean, like a waterfall."

At 34th street, the city had totally vanquished the snow as it always does.

There were no cars, not even on 8th avenue leading into midtown.

Elm trees in Union Square park.