Today was all about the snow. The snow meant different things to different people. For some it was a terrible inconvenience, for others a day off from work. But for those of us who live on Washington Square Park, it was sheer heaven.
In a sort of magical transformation, the moment anyone set foot in the park today, whatever their age, they turned into little children. People were laughing and running about, throwing snowballs, having a grand old time. Because no cars were on the streets, it occurred to me that this was pretty much the same experience people would have had in this park a century ago.
Here is a photo I took amid the revelry in the park, looking through the Arch toward Fifth Avenue. In the distance you would normally see the Empire State Building. But not today — it is hidden behind a swirling mass of falling snow:
Of course, not everything is the same as it was 100 years ago. For one thing, back in 1916 people weren’t taking so many selfies.
I decided I would record my snow day in the park the old fashioned way, by making a snow angel. It’s something I learned as a kid. The first good snowfall of winter you would would go out in the backyard, lie on your back and flap your arms. When you stood up again, it would be as though an angel had been lying in the snow.
It’s hard to see the result from the image below, taken today in Washington Square Park, as the late afternoon winter light fades everything to ghostly Maxfield Parrish hints of yellow and blue. But it is indeed the angel version of yours truly, in a very old-fashioned sort of selfie:
That looks magical! Living in California now, I do miss those winter wonderland kinds of days of my NY youth. But not all the days that come after them 😉