It's officially winter in New York. The leaves are all off the trees, and the sidewalks have been swept clean by the wind as if they're are waiting for the snow. The park, with its barren trees and hard, dead fields, seems like something is missing with no snow on the ground.
Everyone seems to be bracing themselves for it. People are making concessions to warmth, forgoing their stylish jackets in favor of snow parkas that will actually keep them warm. The flower shop on the corner had a sign saying "Due to cold all flowers inside," which I think qualifies as a metaphor.
And just about every place in the city seems like it's overheated. I walked into the bank yesterday and it was practically tropical, and every drug store seems heated to 85 degrees – high enough to defrost chilly New Yorkers popping in for a minute to buy aromatherapy hand soap, but so high that it makes less savvy consumer products purchasers like myself uncomfortable in our jackets after about three minutes.
Update, noon, 12/5: The sidewalks don't have to wait any longer - it's snowing.
Update, 6 PM, 12/8: Now the sidewalks are just disgusting, with piles of dirty snow covering the bases of parking meters and newspaper boxes.
Posted by bkeefer at December 4, 2003 10:48 PM