Pre-Blizzard Prepping

So, the forecasters say we're in for a doozy... a nor'easter Monday night into Tuesday morning, about 24 hours off.  12-18 inches, so they say. 

There was no time to go out for food or supplies today.  I suppose we can scrounge up enough food if need be; it should only be a day at most - New York City generally bounces back quickly.  But Sissy insisted on going out and righting the bikes, which had been blown over on their sides, fully exposed to the moisture.  So we took a rare excursion out.

Out the kitchen window - the means of ingress and egress.  Difficult enough for us, being relatively petite.  But the super has been out this way, contractors have been out this way.  Oy.

The uprighted bikes, underneath their tattered Bike Parka, looking out toward the rest of the terrace.

I had been wondering with the recent warmth whether any of the plants had come up.  I was wondering about the tulips rescued from Park Avenue last year.  At the "empty" tree pit on First Avenue, the one that looked unloved and unadopted, devoid of tree or any plants last year, it became clear it was not so neglected after all - with the spike in temperatures, leaves appeared on plants that looked like crocuses, maybe tulips.  I had planned stealthily to add new Park Avenue rescues this year, but maybe there will be no need.  But a little hard to tell, as I have only been passing by in the evening, with little light, on the way home from the Second Avenue Q (!! - still makes me happy).

 

During the inspection on the terrace, it was evident the rescued tulips had been fooled on the terrace as well.  The foliage is out.  Poor things - only to be buried in snow in under a day....

Tulip foliage - in the planter with the honeysuckle.

Tulip foliage - in the hibiscus planter.

Winter casualty - the old Japanese maple.  I cannot recall whether I yanked it out, or whether this is a result of the wind and snow from the past few weeks/months.

The "terrariums" (terraria?) in the geranium planter.  They don't appear to have worked; the little geraniums that were there before have disappeared.  It must have been too cold.  But there are seeds, still; and the root stocks are still alive - not all hope is lost yet.

Planter by the door - the repository of the greatest number of bulbs.  This is where the "angel hair" cardinal vine grew.  The trellis is temporarily reclining off to the side for the winter - too windy.

The white rosebush - with signs of growth.

Closer look at the Japanese maple planter; in the foreground is the little one - hopefully a fighter and survivor.

The little hibiscus - with some swelling around the leaf nodes.  Hopefully a good sign.

A bit of fresh green peeking through the snow in the daylily planter.

"A Staten Island Urban Farmer"

From the New York Times recently..."A Staten Island Urban Farmer".

Photo by Emon Hassan for the New York Times.



What a concept - making a living in New York City as a farmer.  Getting free housing, a modest salary, having winters off to travel, having a side consulting gig... seems like a pretty good balance, no?

What would it take to be able to live quite that way - a change of mindset?  An innate sense of financial security, surely, made possible, perhaps, by a sizeable trust fund, or an abandonment of traditional notions of financial security altogether, or a shedding of ego and need for material accomplishments... (the last and penultimate may be one and the same).... Elusive change of mindset for the average person.  On the one hand, to be a "farmer in residence"; on the other, life in a studio for two - that could get tiresome.  How much, though, does one really need if one's housing is free?  A bit like being an RA - not so bad.  Although, true, it is not so much space.

But to do it midway through a career, with some money in the bank, some other skills to bank off of... ideas....

Bipolar Weather

Yesterday - 60 degrees, lovely and springy.  Today - snow, with temperatures tumbling.  So it goes this year, apparently.  The local news reports made a point of noting that this is yet another instance this year when temperatures went from well above average and delightfully mild, to regular winter with actual snow accumulation within a 24 hour period.

Climate change, they say, results in wild swings and temperature fluctuations.  Although the current Presidential Administration and its Secretary of the EPA would deny it.  Grr.  Truly, never have I been driven to treasonous thoughts, until recently.

Anyway, some images from the day....

The snows began to fall late during the morning rush, as I began my morning commute.  Snow began to coat the tree limbs.

Snow accumulated on cars and other less-warm surfaces.  The roadways and sidewalks were largely spared.

Roof of the poolhouse at 23rd Street.

More snow covered trees.

The grassy bank where the crocuses and daffodils usually emerge. I spotted foliage the day before, and one lone spot of yellow - a daffodil, likely.  Now covered in white.

The other side of the pedestrian walkway, further north, of that same grassy bank.

Snowy covered rooftops, looking north toward the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and out toward Brooklyn.

There was someone out sunning out on one of those chairs the day before - jacketed, but nonetheless outside, enjoying the warmth, 24 hours prior.

Spring Teaser

For Mumsicle's birthday, her gift was a precursor of spring - lovely, lovely, mild weather.  My gift was a couple of vacation days taken to spend actual time with her and the family.

[More to come.]

Ice Land

The beginning of the week was still icy - the epitome of a New York City winter.  The weather had started to warm (hence the somewhat slushy sledding from the day prior), and the snow began to melt, but then froze overnight - lovely coats of ice.  Lovely from the warm indoors, anyway.

Mini-trellis, in winters sans the mandaville.

Looking somewhat northward.

Solar light with its icicle decorations.

Looking northward again.

Southernmost mini-trellis, looking eastward.



And then today we hit 56 degrees - finally joining the ranks of beneficiaries of the well above-average temperatures that were sweeping the Midwest.  And the rest of the long weekend and week ahead should be warmer too.  The beginning of the thaw, perhaps.

Winter Frolics

Saturdays have become recovery days, late mornings lingering in bed, freedom to take naps, tentative blocks on the calendar for free events in Central Park, languid reconnections with old classmates on Facebook...

Punctured by emails from work setting deadlines from out of the blue.  So much for balance.  And so the passive aggressive defense mechanism kicks in.  Radio silence.  It'll all get done.  Tomorrow, it will get done.  And, someday, maybe household life will get to return to normal too.  Sigh.  It will all get done.

Instead, today, there was an outing to take advantage of the snow that is beginning to melt.  Sissy had brunch with her friends, and invited a couple with two little kids out to go sledding on our favorite little hill.  I was still home, having never made it to the office.  So my job was to bring out the sled, and do the test run to make sure it was still safe for the kids - it was fine, a little slushy and melted, outright muddy in spots; slow enough for little kids.  Thus ensued a bit of funtime, watching a 3- and 2-year-old take their first sled rides down our little baby hill.  Sweet.

And on the walk back, photos of the winter park.

City snow creature - there wasn't quite that much snow, after all.

Peter Pan, from afar.



"Weather Whiplash"

Borrowing the phrase from Al Roker - because that is precisely what struck New York City over the last couple of days.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was a recordbreaker - the highest temperature recorded in New York City for February 8th ever - 62 degrees.  The meteorologists were spot on in calling that one.  So, knowing BossLady would be out of town, and having skipped the running routine for too much of the winter, it seemed the opportune time to resume - attempt to reclaim some balance, take advantage of the relatively springlike temperature.... before the weather yo-yo bounced the other way....

A little chilly at first, but the run quickly resolved that.  Helpful to have the phone along too.  There were a number of plants in bloom - some are winter bloomers, I believe, like the witch hazel.  And some, maybe they've been fooled.

Witch hazel, I think - from afar.

Witch hazel - close up.

Sometime during my running interlude, one of the big trees on the lawn nearest Gracie Mansion was felled.

Tree limbs, with Gracie Mansion in the background.

Compost pile, with Gracie Mansion fence in the background.

Snow drops - I think.

Are these hellebores?

Blazing yellow bush.

Yellow bloomer, up close.

And then overnight, it all changed, and the snows came after midnight on Thursday.

Queensborough Bridge, aka the Ed Koch Bridge, out of a snow-fringed cab window.

Along the FDR, in the neighborhood of the high school boyfriend.

One of the newer constructions - the copper building.  Supposedly that "H" connector is a mid-air swimming pool.

One of the parks along the way.

Fresh snow clinging and highlighting the contours and features of the buildings.

One of the salt and sand sheds, beneath the Manhattan Bridge, I think.  Still resources remaining for use.

The fence of the corporate ballfield.

The Brooklyn Bridge.