Snow Days

It's really common for me to complain about all the negative things that occur in NJ. Its so easy to blame the garden state for it all. However, this is one week that I am not going to vent about it. Why the sudden change of heart you ask? Well for one thing I just had a snow day yesterday. And yes, I know, so did New York. But as I sat on my couch I realized one of the things that made me want to relocate in the first place...peace and quiet.

I can recall many snowstorms in New York. Make no mistake; it was always an instant recipe for fun. The beers would be chilled in the snow next to the porch. The tacky second hand living room furniture that seemed to live on the porch longer than we occupied our apartment would be filled with snowgazing friends. The balcony we had was the most fun because we would hide up there (2nd floor of course) and when our downstairs friends would appear, we would bombard them with showers of snow from above. It makes me grin widely to think about the friends we scared the hell out of with a shovelful or two. Somehow, we always managed to round everyone up before we got stuck too. Yes, there was the convenience of just living near your friends, but it was always a positive thing to be at our house when a blizzard struck.

Not only was it a reason to gather together, and reminisce about snow days of yesteryear, it was a guarantee that our bosses would not be at work either, the stores would not open, and we would not be expected to drive for at least 24 hours. That said, we would also forgo sleep, eat only delivered pizza and actually even barbecued on the snow covered porch if I recall correctly...damn near burnt the house down--but oh the fun we had! I can remember a particularly saucy old man that lived next door who was throwing snow over our fence as we quietly looked on from our 2nd story perch. When asked what he was doing he not only denied throwing the snow, saying "I was just moving my snow around in my own yard." But eventually realized we had seen him and said, "I didn't know you didn't want me to do that." It should be noted that this is the same man that told me I should not sit on the porch "because his friend's son was a vegetable." Nuff said.

In addition to all the outdoor stimulation, which included an igloo--constructed by we and our friends--and depicted on MySpaces all season; there was much ado about indoors during the snow as well. Perfectly acceptable to have an "in-house" on a Tuesday in a blizzard-and why not!? Nobody appreciates the knowledge that work is CLOSED better than we did. We would make the infamous pound of pasta salad, bake sordid brownies, and just get wrecked. Now I love my friends--did then, and do now. And you may think I am lacking an appreciation here, but I'm not. We lived it for around 10 years and I was never not having fun.

However, yesterday I was alone at home during the snow-well almost alone. I had my dog and a good book, DVR'd episodes of LOST to scrutinize, new bath salts and my favorite clove and cinnamon candles. I drew back the curtains, raised the blinds, and thought "Wow. It's so peaceful." That was a crazy thing for me to say given the amount of venting and bitching I do about living here. But for one day, the monstrous pounding of Rock Band with drums was silenced upstairs. The neighbors slept in, no alarm clocks were heard on my (brand new and much appreciated) day off. No one was yelling at their kids to hurry up and get ready for school. Even the 17 year old opera singer across the courtyard took a break. It was calm.

There are few occasions when I can really say that I am easily able to take a step back and see calm. Me and calm, we try to be close, but we lose touch in frequent bursts of insanity. We try to meet up at least once a week over a hot cup of cinnamon tea and a detoxifying face mask. But we don't always succeed. We want to, we really do. It's just that stuff gets in the way. Life gets in the way. Other people get in the way. Yesterday however, I played in the snow with my dog, took an extra long hottest of hot shower, and lounged calmly on the couch. Yesterday was a good day. It was terrible weather for travel, sure. No one was on the roads, and the roads themselves were barely plowed at all. It was, however, pretty and quiet, untouched and pure. Just like a snow day should be. It made me think: Hooray for snow days, and although I will always miss New York, and may even be moving back, but it is nice to know that here, calm is only a snowstorm away.