First Snow

The first snowfall has arrived in our region, beginning yesterday early afternoon, swirling outside my window at work, falling heavily to carpet the city streets.   Colleagues in Long Island and Westchester called with some weary dismay that the power they finally got back after nearly 10 days, was knocked out again.

I walked backwards from the subway home, to more easily navigate the route against snow blowing into my eyes.   Later in the evening I heard from neighbors that a tree fell down on Grace Court, crushing at least 2 cars, and I imagine more of that has been reported in the surrounding area.
New storm reports caused a sinking feeling in many of us, thinking heavily on so many people in the region who were terribly impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Adding to the emotion of all of this was of course the Presidential Election.  As in the nature of our democracy and political system, there's ultimately going to be one winner and one loser.  Whether people were voting for someone or against someone, elated or depressed by the results, it's seemed that the tensions and emotions have gotten more extreme and even more polarizing in the past decade, and perhaps an amplification of that has been due to social media and the ability to share your view with hundreds sometimes thousands of people.  And for them to comment, agree or argue back.  A close friend of mine in LA  noted wisely on facebook that she was looking forward to the day after the election, when she would stop seeing and sharing all the views and thoughts.

We're all a bit weary from things.

Though, as I looked at the first snow this morning, dusting the pier-turned-into-a-soccer-field, I remembered a line from one of my favorite books, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" where the narrator John notes that his Grandmother always said snow was healing.  He commented that it was a very 'Yankee' point of view, as if there's a lot of something, it must be good for you!

When I lived in Michigan, Evanston or New York City part 1 and part 2,  waking up to a carpet of snow always gives me that New  Years Day feeling, a sense of a blank slate, a reset, the promise of a new day ahead.   May it give the same to you.