E. 30th Street, February 2007

I took this photo a month ago, but soon enough, our sidewalks will once again be rimed with this thinning layer of ice. Winter descended for perhaps its last gasp yesterday, sprinkling us with snow and freezing rain and turning the city to slush. We still haven’t seen much of a spring here, though we had a few tantalizingly balmy days this week. Yesterday was a reminder that we’re not there yet.

Making my way to the office in the morning, I wasn’t enjoying the weather at all. I had a lot on my mind, thinking about the coming day, and something about the chill and the bluster was a little hard to take.

But in the dark evening, on the way home, I had the opposite experience. The crystals of ice and snow glittered silver as they fell beneath the streetlights. The wind whipped around corners and turned my umbrella inside out. It was kind of wild and fun.

At the corner of 32nd Street and Lexington Avenue, I stood looking uptown at the lighted crown of the Chrysler Building, glowing through the white haze of the falling snow. Traffic was sparse on Lexington, and the neighborhood seemed unusually quiet and muffled. There weren’t many pedestrians out; the ice pattered softly on my umbrella.

I soaked up that moment, knowing that soon enough, spring will be here. I like spring, but there are things I’ll miss about winter.