NYC Update

SNOW IN HARLEM

Well the snow has fallen both Sunday night and Monday night. As I type this there is about 2 inches of the the white stuff on the ground here in Harlem. Last night in Brooklyn, where I work, it began snowing about 7pm. Everyone thought it was quite amusing to see me get excited about it.

Over the weekend I decided to order home delivery of the New York Times. I always imagined going downstairs from my New York apartment and getting the Times from my snow covered stoop. Well all the pieces are in place - except the paper. For the second morning in a row it has not arrived. They called me yesterday to check on it and said they would find out why it didn't get here. I guess I will have the same conversation today.

Dressing in the cold weather is also proving to be a learning experience. The other day I had a long sleeved shirt, sweater, scarf and heavy coat and was still cold. The wind went right through it all! So the next day I added a hoody and was just fine. The hood is also an effective devise to keep falling snow out of the hair.

And hatwear in the winter is a another topic. I could wear a stocking cap outside all the time, they are comfortable, warm and look pretty good. But when it comes time to work inside it is too hot. If I wear a stocking cap for any lenghth of time I get a horrible case of "hat head". There is no removing it once it goes on. So while the stocking caps are perfect a lot of the times, what about when I need to go topless afterward?

First I tried these wraparound things. They are like a thick headband that cover your forehead, ears (important) without messing up the hair. Those are good. Another devise I found is my favorite right now. They are ear muffs that cover the ears and wrap around the back of the neck. I saw everyone wearing them Saturday and was mystified. What were these things people had on and did they really help against the cold. Person after person were wearing them but I could not find them in any store! Finally Sarah tld me that if everyone has something here it means they got it from street vendors. Sure enough the next street vendor did have them and for $4 I got myself a pair. They keep the ears warm, don't mess up the hair and I even convinced Sarah (for about a half hour) that they block out sounds (she's a talker!). In truth they do muffle the sound a bit. Best of all even though if only one person wore one it would look stupid, when millions do they look fine.