NYC: Re-Entry and the Winter Wonderland.

I finally moved into my sublet 2 days before Christmas; As I got closer to the city, I got more excited. When I saw the skyline, and the red and green lights,  I knew I was where I was supposed to be. The Grey Gardens had been exorcised.

My sublandlord told me she had been cleaning for three days, and that she was leaving apartment in "spit shine clean" condition.

I thought there was going to be a flower arrangement waiting for me. I was thrilled.

Instead, I found a clogged toilet, a crusted filthy refrigerator, and floors that looked as if they hadn't been washed in YEARS. Fur balls of brown hair from her labs. And btw, the tiles in the kitchen? Black tiles. When you can see dirt on black tiles you know it's bad. I guess "spit shine clean" is subjective.

I spent the past two days cleaning. But, I was home.  In the meantime, my camera broke. It didn't matter -  I was in the city and down the street from a beautiful park. Around the corner from every kind of shop you could imagine.

I spent Christmas evening at an old friends home who hosted a dinner party. My first social outing, and after three weeks of a Grey Gardens existance I was the deer in headlights amongst the 12 other guests.

At least I didn't break out in some dance or song. Nor did I wear a bathing suit on my head. So there's that.

This morning I woke up to headlines screaming BLIZZARD! My dog and I went out in the morning, and it was fine. Light flurries. No Big Deal. Typical hysterical headline. Whatever.

Then, more flurries. By 1:30 PM I thought, oh, they're not kidding. The search for proper winter boots turned futile. Every shop was sold out in my neighborhood. My groovy aubergine patent leather Cole Haan boots were about as good as ballet slippers in this weather.

A friend offered to loan me a North Face jacket.

This was serious business. I started to put layer upon layer on to walk to her place, and decided against it.

My dog and I opted to stay in and watch the winter wonderland progress:
(note the table in the left part of the pictures)

By 1:30, it was quaint, non?

By 4:30, the sun was going down, it had gotten a lot colder, and I felt like a bear and just wanted to hibernate. 

I understood why they do:

7:00, still snowing...

My dog's REAL first taste of snow.

Around 9:00

Look!  A snow drift on the fence in my "backyard"

Did I mention SNOW THUNDER? 

Never heard of that before. 

We had it. Added ambience I must say.

And here at 12:30 AM

A subtle difference, but it's still growing.

Before bed snapshot:

Tonight, as I watched the snow fall, I remembered doing the exact same thing as a teenager. Staying up to all hours just watching the snow fall silently to the ground. The silence gave me a feeling of safety. The streets were empty, all was quiet. Nothing bad could happen when the city was like this.

And this time around, I still feel the same way.