the coming winter

One of the most appealing features of New York is that it actually gets all four seasons, and genuine seasons. One can rather accurately guess the month simply by the weather, whereas in England one would be completely at a loss. And so, appropriately, the creeping coldness of the coming winter warmed just enough yesterday to bless our chilly cheeks and faces with the cold yet soft kiss of snow flakes gently descending down upon us.

Nate, Preston and I had begun walking down Broadway avenue in search of a cinema and some visual escapist entertainment. We came to several cinemas but none were showing anything we wanted to see, and so we kept walking - all the way to Times Square, which is on 42nd street. The quicker ones amongst you will, recalling I live on 122nd, calculate we walked 80 blocks!! We eventually found a cinema, bought tickets for 'Nobel Son' and in the hour-long wait, we took a walk to the Rockefeller Centre which has the famous ice-skating rink in front of the building and a giant Christmas tree. We arrived there, guided by the incandescent trees wrapped in fairy lights that lined the sidewalk. Did I mention I love lights?! So we got there, looked at it for a while, soaked up the atmosphere, made small-talk with fellow Rockerfeller pilgrims, and then just as we were leaving, the drift passed over and enveloped us in a cloud of white night-time surprise. We gazed up, crooked-necked, agape in childlike wonder as the flakes softly floated down, illuminated by the city lights, and rested on us.

And so I'm resting. It has been a very busy week, and my head was getting foggy. I had planned to work over the weekend, but that night I decided not to do anything til Monday. I'm going to head down to Borders now, listen to the new Jon Foreman album, relax with a coffee, and be good to myself and my soul. When was the last time you did the same?