There's something wildly romantic about winter in the city. The crisp cold air biting your skin, the toasty radiators beckoning you indoors, the frozen quiet that descends upon the streets- its all so intense, so cinematic.
There's also something painfully claustrophobic about winter in the city. As the snow mounds rise and the bitter frost descends upon everything, the vast constellation of sprawling neighborhoods, crowds, and frenzy suddenly distills down to just your neighborhood, your block, your apartment.. it's too cold and too hard to go much of anywhere else- especially with kids. It can feel downright isolating, and you can often feel absolutely alone. It's a funny feeling to feel alone amongst eight million people. The long weeks of winter can be intensely introspective, and you can easily get lost in the radiator and music-fueled incubator of your own apartment, writing and cooking and dancing day after day. The long days indoors are productive and beautiful... until the cabin fever sets in, and you and the children must get out. Then it's time to bundle up and head out into the frozen concrete wilderness.
There's something amazingly trying about winter in the city. The winter here pushes you. It tests you. It forces you to look out upon the white-washed streets and snow-covered rooftops and to still find it in yourself to venture, with your brood, into the biting winds and through the slush and ice in search of adventure. And winter in the city is nothing if not a spectacular series of adventures. Maneuvering a double stroller through five inches of snow and up and down three flights of subway steps while keeping two kids, outfitted in three layers of snow gear each, happy, is an adventure fit for superwoman (also known as the modern day parent). Putting on your leather gloves and wool hats, strapping the baby in the sling, and walking the dog (which in our case usually entails letting Biet jump in each and every pile of snow, slide across the dangerously slippery patches of black ice, stop to make a tiny snowball in her gloved hand or to watch her frozen breath cloud the air every few steps, and occasionally lead us inside a shop for some hot chocolate or pizza) is a daily adventure. On the very bitter days, this outing feels more like hiking a snowy mountain than walking around a few measly blocks. Yes, winter in the city is a fierce, tedious, lovable beast of a thing.
On the rare winter day when the temperature hovers above freezing and I can shed my gloves and hat and burrow into my favorite faux fur, jaunting around downtown with no place to be is amongst my favorite of adventures to embark upon. I walk aimlessly along the narrow streets with my two babes snug in their stroller, popping into dusty vintage shops, warm coffee shops, and all-but-abandoned parks along the way. The winter winds blow in from the Hudson River and keep the streets breezily quiet, and the city feels mine, all mine.
On these days I feel like I'm walking through an old movie, and I become lost in the wild romance of the city. On these days, I adore the winter.
