Frozen

Five layers, two scarves, a hoodie, gloves, ear muffs, thermals, and a pair of heavy duty snow boots. Welcome to the deep freeze!

The 10 inches of snow that storm Grayson dumped on the city yesterday made life a tad inconvenient. Last night, I found my car buried in more than 20 feet of white powder (the additional 10 obviously piled on by the cleaners). Shoveling them off was made more challenging by the below freezing temperature (minus 25 degrees fahrenheit). It’s almost laughable that 6 days ago, I was in Cebu suffering in silence from all the mosquito bites I had to endure because the heat made it almost impossible for me to wear anything but shorts and tank tops. And a week before that, I was longing for the kind of snowfall that battered us yesterday. The comedy of life!

My cousin has tried to convince me for ages to move to southern California where the winters are mild, fall-like even (my favorite season!). But no snow. As much as I dislike cleaning up after a storm and the frost bites that winter brings, I love snow; the crisp crunching of it under my boots, its look of perfection perched on tree branches unspoiled by pollution, and the way it drops from the heavens like millions of tiny stars kissing the earth. If someone could take care of the clean-up part, drive me along dangerously slippery unplowed streets, and find me a parking spot amidst the mountains of unmelted ice, I wouldn’t mind it snowing everyday. Seriously. 

For now, I’m leaving my car where it is, sitting beside a muddy white hill. I’ll take the train to work together with the gloved, ear-muffed, and booted masses and hope that the heat we involuntarily give each other would be enough, at least until the next subway station. 

Days like these, a bowl of hot champorado is a girl’s bestfriend.