5 Reasons To Do Laundry In A Snowstorm

1. All my warmest socks needed to be ready for the record cold expected for the next few days. Note that I live in a building with laundry rooms, so we don’t have to venture outside.
2. Cabin fever: Interact with the neighbors who are in the same position. Actually, the best way to meet your fellow residents and get to know a new neighborhood is to find an excuse to be in the laundry room and common areas.
3. I’m grateful for the building’s heating system but the air is arid. I dry damp items on and near the radiators to bring a little moisture into the air. (Kind of like the old school dish-of-water-on-the radiator trick.)
4. In the unlikely event of a power failure you at least have clean clothes to wear and clean towels to block any drafts. I don’t know that I’d like a breeze blowing in through stinky towels.
5. During Hurricane Sandy the wind was so strong that I could hear the elevator bang around in the shaft. Eventually the elevators stopped working during that storm although we, thankfully, retained power. Lesson learned that day: be prepared for high wind.

Of course, the long-term solution is to move somewhere less snowy but then I’d have to learn all new life hacks.

Blizzard Optimism

Snow is unpleasant. The second worst blizzard in New York’s recorded history is cause to join a friend looking for something photo-worthy. You can’t go wrong with a snowperson built by a little girl.

Looking for Christmas

I always loved Christmas. The cheer, the celebrations, the pretty decorations, all never failed to put a spring in my step and a dent in my wallet.

I entered the season with an already dented wallet and was shocked when I realized that Christmas was almost here. So last week, after a City appointment and time to waste on a gloriously warm day, I walked through lower Manhattan looking for the weird or the wonderful.

I Shot With Film!

Hmmm, I wondered, can I still use my film camera?

So after finding actual film, I hauled the Nikon to a snowy, frozen Bayside Marina, which I wrote about last week. That post included pictures on my little pocket camera because it has taken me this long to get the actual film processed.

It was worth the wait.

I didn’t realize how satisfying it felt to put the camera to my eye, to momentarily block out everything except what I saw in the viewfinder. That position where you gently press your elbows into your torso to stabilize the camera. The click.

Although I transported it inside my jacket for warmth and safety, the camera repeatedly froze.  It’s charming but still old technology. The images in that last post were with the digi.

Digital is practical. It’s immediate and full of creative possibility.  We are, generally, never going back to film. But I’m glad I tried this.

I think the color is a little better here.

Funny how I forgot how the weather turned! In the short time it took me to drive to a park at the base of the bridge, the snow got heavier and the sky became darker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totally different view of the day. Made me very grateful I didn’t have to drive on that bridge.

Expressing The Smiley Side

It was one of those cold, slushy days that makes me wonder why I still live in New York. To shake that craziness out of my head, I stopped at a garden center as I slogged through the day, reveling in the steamy greenhouse air. These planters cheered me right up.

And that pretty much expresses myself and my day.

Summer’s Really Over

Today I wore the puffy jacket.

I froze through an otherwise delightful tour of some Long Island wineries yesterday. It seems that everybody else was comfortable in pretty sweaters and sweatshirts, but I, in a winter sweater, vest and leather jacket, could not stay warm.

But the wines, the company and the music were great fun.