February 1, 2022

I like the way the air warms up a little before and after a snowfall. It’s frigid for days and ice lines the sidewalk; you have to pay close attention and take small steps everywhere. Then the warm air moves in and the trucks spray salt this way and that as they drive over and across the streets. Overnight everything changes, and the next day each step is soft, steady, and firm against the new snow. Every intersection is an obstacle, and calculations must be made: where to cross over from the sidewalk to reach the crosswalk. Over the weekend, you had to step up and over and onto embankments of snow. Now those embankments, melted, have spread out at the end of sidewalks, tiny oceans everywhere.