Wonderland

Snow!
The second real snow of the season. The last two winters in New York, it only snowed a few times but it seems like we had a lot more snow those years. They say 1-3 inches by the morning. I don't think I'll ever tire of the snow. (But that's because I don't live in snow drifts 8 months of the year.) It's magic. I love watching the swirls of flakes floating under the street lights. Tonight the swirls remind me of gnat swarms we used to get in the summer evenings in Florida, the snow moves the same way in this storm. But the flakes aren't black and nasty and won't stick in your teeth and get caught in your throat. They glitter under the orange bulb outside my window, magic that makes everything clean and sparkly.

I love this city after it snows. The snow covers the grimy yuck on the ground turning trash heaps into jeweled blankets. When all the lights turn on and shine it looks like the city sank a few feet under water turning streets into reflecting pools. This of course is why I fly away tomorrow. I eagerly waited for the snow to fall all year, knowing then my crap street will look nice, only to whisk away to the tropics when it finally does. At least I get to see it before I go.

I don't want to go to sleep tonight, I'd rather sit here and watch the snow fall. That would be irresponsible of me. I have too much to do tomorrow to get ready for the trip. Since I sat in bed all last week none of these necessities got done. I'll be lucky to get things half completed.

While I lay sick and incapacitated, my paycheck sat in the bursar's office uncashed and I have bills due, my prescription sits in the doc's office needing to be picked up and filled before I go...Those two things alone will take at least 3 hours of the day. More likely 4. Packing I can do in 30 minutes if I rush. The damnable laundry! I'll pick out what I want to wear on the trip, put it in a plastic bag and pack it up to wash at mom's house--just like I do every year. Dirty dishes have piled up in my bedroom, my trash overflows, the bathroom floor needs mopping, we're out of toilet paper, my floor needs vacuuming....I imagine much of the tedium of living would be easier if shared with another person. I know having someone complicates life exponentially in ways I can't conceive. But for now I feel tired and wish I had someone here.

The cold disease has mostly gone away. I haven't wanted to tempt the evil germs so I stayed home and rested. My gentleman friend has left the country for two weeks, plunging me back into lonely boredom when I return from Mom's house. It won't be too bad because I need a week to unwind after spending time with the family. But I might miss him all the same--only if he misses me too and doesn't go falling in love with some Israeli.

The weirdness of flying into another world never ceases to amaze me. This time tomorrow I'll be sleeping in a bunk bed in South Florida, in a house with a green lawn, hibiscus blooming, starry sky and frogs croaking. Where the only street sounds come from neighbors' cars and kids playing. Even now in Brooklyn, the raggae from the club up the block beats incessantly at 3 am. I don't mind the music but the DJ's screaming gets on my nerves. And car alarms. Why do people continue to use them, they don't work.
Still the snow falls.

I should sleep so I can feel less guilty tomorrow when I don't get anything done. A black cat just slunk across the white snowy lot, it's almost like a Rockwell painting but with barbedwire and graffiti.
Still snowing.