The apocalypse in white is an apt description of the Village just days after the second 'great blizzard' of 2010. I suppose this is just our first because New York City itself was spared the worst of last winter's big storm. After two days of traveling, shoveling and wandering in the wasteland I am going to soak in a tub of hot water for as long as humanly possible. But first my thoughts from the snowpocalypse* ....
As I tried to get back to snow choked New York I quickly remembered something about long distance bus travel. I should never wear boots with any kind of heel at all because I'm too tall and even the two inch heels I had on made me feel cramped for space in no time at all. Also an MP3 player is an absolute must because you can put on the earbuds and zone out even if you aren't listening to anything. Just the mere appearance of the tall, cramped, zoned out dark bish is enough to keep people away, Sometimes it's just enough to get you two seats by yourself too.
A normal three hour bus trip stretched to four until I made it back. The city was a hodgepodge of stuck taxis, buses, and every other mode of transport imaginable. Only the ever present bicycle messengers seemed to be moving normally, albeit some were on mountain bikes. When I finally made it to our apartment building I found the entrance piled high with snow. Than at the gallery the sidewalk was in need of shoveling and I quickly decided that I should have stayed at my Dad's with Foxy. But shovel I did, from the gallery all the way to the liquor store up the street. After all I am no fool. I survived this back breaking labor relatively unscathed but for some sore muscles and a likely ruined pair of leather boots. Than again leather boots are never ruined to me, they just get worn with a diff outfit.
The one part of the city that does seem to have been cleared fast is Times Square. That is pretty easy to understand what with New Years Eve fast approaching. One doesn't want to worry about thousands of psycho snow ball wielding inebriated rubberneckers when terrorists are to be dealt with. And I'm sure the Mayor doesn't want to have this live TV quasi advertisement for the gleaming city disrupted either. How can Mayor Bloomberg expect to be President if he can't even get the snow cleared off the streets?
But I do have to say the city was beautiful when I got back, totally a disaster but still beautiful. Yesterday the snow was still a brilliant white in the Village and not the usual salt splattered grey you get used to seeing around here. The white snow under a clear blue sky just reminded me of the mountains, but not quite, somehow the towers don't remind me of trees.
After a day of shoveling and pretending the gallery was open I declared today a snow day and went exploring. Below is a link to some of what I found.
"the apocalypse in White" a set on flickr.
*Urban Dictionary: Snowpocalypse - A weather condition in which the amount of fallen snow, while not really such a big deal, wreaks havoc on a city, effectively shutting it down and leaving its citizens stunned and unable to see any sign of hope or a return to normalcy.
