Innermost Thought

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February 12, 2006

Blizzard of '06

Well, it's not Dairy Queen but it'll do. Mother Nature bestowed upon the northeast a magnificent display of iced-water. The news is saying this blizzard may be a close second to the greatest snowfall on record. I knew it was a big snow but I didn't fully grasp how big until I stepped outside to walk the dog. Mounds of snow and car litter the curbways while children sled down the stairs of the local high school down the street. Just walking out the door of my garden (er, basement) apartment proved to be quite an endeavor. Snow had covered the bottom quarter of the door. Closing the snow-laden door upon my return proved to be just as challenging.

When we think of blizzards in Texas we immediately think, "Do I want M&Ms or Heath Bar crunch?" There's something about that ice-milk frosty beverage at Dairy Queen that makes one almost look forward to the drive between Fort Worth and Wichita Falls; a route on which my favorite DQ resides. It's the midway treat. From WF, you realize you're almost home. From FW, the trip doesn't really start until you've got a Blizzard in your hand.

I'm not sure there's a Dairy Queen anywhere in the states of New York or New Jersey. But we do have Blizzards. This one was a doozy. In spite of being a Texan, or perhaps because of it, I love snow and cold weather. While no fan of windy cold weather, when the air is still the temperature can be well below freezing before I start dreaming of sunny beaches. Still, cold, natural air is invigorating.

We haven't had much snow fall here in NYC this winter. In fact the weather's been for the most part quite tepid and reminiscent of the stifling winter weather of my memories of Houston. It feels unholy to be cavorting in mid-50s weather more days than not in a winter here in the Northeast. It's a sure sign to me that the cavalier way in which we manage the planet's resources are wearing out the Earth in such a way that we will soon be suffering the ill-effects of our waste as much as the rest of the planet's inhabitants. Without that winter break, the northeast feels like water in a petrie-dish...slowly getting more stifling and stagnant and spoiled. A true winter full of snows and ice and even the bone chilling winds provides a release of sorts. It's the other side of the pendulum that, once hit, provides a clean slate for the onslaught of spring, summer, fall and then winter once again. Without that true release, remnants of seasons past linger and build like skeletons in an attic that never gets truly cleaned. It's a musty, ill-used smell; it just doesn't feel right.

Today, the Earth finally mustered up enough strength and pomp and circumstance to make it right. And now I sit in my cozy garden (er, basement) apartment safe in the knowledge that there are mounds of gorgeous, glistening flakes of icy-cold water just out my door. The Earth is still alive and anything is possible...except perhaps a trip to the grocery store.

Posted by mermu at February 12, 2006 01:18 PM

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