in time the snow will rise, in time the snow will rise

An update because it needs to happen, but quickly because I also need to start dinner.

Christmas in New York. Sam bought some simple ornaments to decorate our tree. Then my mom sent a small portion of ornaments from home. Then Sam’s mom sent us more ornaments and somehow we got them all onto our small tree. I got sweaters (which will come in handy for work, see next paragraph) and records and other good stuff.

The holiday season at The Strand was insane. I’ve never worked retail before, so working in a popular book store at a popular location in New York City for the past few weeks had been a sort of blur. Not to mention, cold. The store itself is pretty warm, but the registers are right next to the front doors and so many people coming in and going out let so much of the cold in. We have to dress in layers just to keep warm.

And then there was the blizzard. When I left for work it was snowing and windy and it didn’t stop. All throughout work there was talk of closing the store early. Once it was dark outside the wind picked up even more and snow was blowing horizontally pretty continuously. Then we saw lightning and heard thunder. Soon after the front doors (both of them) blew open and snow blew inside the store. Then we asked, “Can we go home now?” We closed a whole half hour early, at 10 pm. By then at least two feet of snow had fallen everywhere and no cars were on the road and only a few people were wandering the streets. One customer had described it as a “wasteland.” He was fairly accurate.

When I left my apartment for work the next morning (Monday) I noticed that most of the cars on my block had been buried in snow. Not a half-foot layer like most of the other cars in the immediate area, but buried like it could have just been a large pile of snow. Again, there were very few cars or people out and about. I think I actually got to work faster on Monday than I usually do. Some of the sidewalks and streets had been relatively cleared of snow and my trains weren’t too delayed.

Today, Tuesday, the snow has somewhat melted, the sidewalks are almost all cleared and the streets and intersections have turned to brown slush. A few cars are still buried and others are blocked in by small mounds of snow that a plow has pushed off the street. Sam and I saw a stoop knee-deep in clean, undisturbed snow. When that family gets back they’re going to have a fun time getting indoors, dragging their suitcases up those steps.

Thinking of being indoors, it’s time for dinner.

 

-amelia

P.S. Now I better understand the term “winter wonderland”: Sam says I look like an excited child walking around in the snow.

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