Musings after the storm...

Here in the Northeast we are, figuratively speaking, climbing out from under a horrendous blanket of ice crystalized snow that is the culmination of a series of three winter storm systems that dropped a record breaking 52 inches of snow in New York City over the course of a month and a half.




Azaleas in Manhattan

Autumn in New York

Now, I realize that by choosing to live in this part of North America automatically means you get to enjoy...well sort of enjoy...maybe endure is a better word..four different seasons.  And I am the first to admit there is nothing that compares to New York State in spring or in autumn. The flowers and other foliage during those two seasons are glorious to behold.  And the seasonal aromas of blooming hyacinths, forsythia, crocus, daffodils and azaleas make springtime a joy.  The brilliant reds, oranges and flaming yellows of the fall foliage make us the envy of many and a trip up along the Hudson to view the changing fall colors is a wonderful way to spend an autumn weekend. But this snow has got to go!


After the Storm from the deck

Not that I hate snow.  I am the first to admit that watching the snow fall on a dark winter's evening from the comfort of a warm room gazing out an expansive window is a lovely thing.  Watching the children romp through the snow, making "snow angels" and sledding down the hill at the local golf course or park is exhilarating and just too much fun and will warm the cockles of anyone's cold heart. But it is the clean up and logistics of getting around that can make grown men cry...and has.

By even the most conservative accounts, we have accumulated a good two to three feet of still cold and somewhat frozen snow and ice pushed up on sidewalks, lawns, parkland, parking lots, the shore line and against still parked cars and trucks across the metropolitan area.




Plowing the streets

Alternate side of the street parking regulations, normally the bane of New Yorkers who own cars, has been suspended for about three weeks.  This means those lucky enough to have parked their cars in a legal spot when these series of snow storms began, have not moved them, and unless they have been less than diligent at  removing snow from the roof and body of the car, are now in the predicament of actually locating the car since many are just covered over and plowed in by the New York City Sanitation Department. Several cars have had their roofs crushed in due to the weight of this wet and heavy snow compacted down by rain and sleet turned to ice.

Back in my misspent youth, the City of New York had no reservations about dumping the collected snow into the harbor, and did so for perhaps over a hundred years.  My Grandmother told us kids that in her day, they would open the sewer covers and shovel the snow into the sewer system that eventually, in those days, went into the river and ocean that surrounds this city.  Due to the use of chemical ice melters, most of them chloride based, this is no longer done. Our local Environmental Protection Agency would not allow this, and rightly so.




So, the garbage has not been collected since the Sanitation Department is charged with snow removal as a priority...as it should be.  For now, at least, the garbage and trash ( there is a difference) is bagged, contained and sitting around in the snow and cold, and it is mostly frozen...at least for now.






I know that spring is coming...and I am flying off to Mexico on Monday....Please, when I come back, can the snow be gone?