Friday, December 31, 2010

Blizzard!!




As everyone probably already knows, NYC was struck by a blizzard that started during the day on Sunday 12/26 and ended in the morning of 12/27. We get at least 3 blizzards a year, so this one really didn't come as a surprise, and I love a good snow storm. All you can really do is stay inside, keep warm, and watch the snow pile up outside. When the city is covered in snow there are about 2 hours where there is a general sense of peace and quiet (something that pretty much never happens in NYC), and I love to walk around in it, hearing the crunching sound of my footsteps in the fresh snow, dancing around under the snowflakes, making snow angels etc etc. Not this time - the wind was too strong and too bitterly cold. A car got stuck in the middle of my street around 10pm, and by morning it was completely covered, blocking the snowplough who had turned into our street at some point during the early morning hours.
When I woke up I checked the MTA's website to see if the J train was running, but there was no real message stating that it was or it wasn't, so I wrapped up warm and got ready to leave, bracing myself for the walk to the subway in 19 inches of snow... But I couldn't even leave the apartment! The snow that had come down in the driveway had all drifted right up against the front door of the building, with no way of getting out from the inside. Snow day!!
In any case, the J wasn't running anyway, so it was a blessing in disguise. I probably would have pelted people with snowballs f I had gone all the way there for nothing!
The kids from the first floor apartment were finally able to dig us out around 1pm (but only when someone actually was able to dig from the outside first. I got some good pictures from the street and from the roof, trudged to the deli to get some food for the rest of the day and went back home to stay warm. The next day I made it to work, but it really did feel like I was in a scene from a disaster/apocalypse movie - hardly any cars on the roads, people walking down the middle of main roads (like Broadway in Brooklyn), buses stuck in the middle of streets, mounds and mounds of snow on the sides of the street.

Five days later and it's still there - not very pretty anymore, and the slippery slush is excellent for falling over and looking like an idiot. We are supposed to get some rain on Sunday, so it will all melt away... Until the next one.

Go to my Flickr set to see more snow pictures!

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