I've got cabin fever

We've been getting a lot of snow here on the East Coast this winter. It feels like every other week, we get dumped with a foot of snow. Just when it starts to clear up, it snows again.

It's not so bad living in New York City when there's a snowstorm. Besides for Central Park, the snow never seems to stick all that much. There are so many cars on the road, so people walking the streets and so many store fronts that do a good job of quickly clearing the snow off the sidewalks so the snow doesn't stand a chance here. Sometimes, the only way you can tell that there was a lot of snow is to look at the foot-high snow drifts on top of the parked cars.

Although the subways and buses run slow, they still run. You can still walk everywhere. A good pair of winter boots is absolutely essential if you plan to trek the streets during a snowstorm. Not really because of the snow itself but as protection from the dreaded slush puddles that form on the sidewalk edges. You have to be really careful. Some seemingly shallow puddles are really quite deep and there is nothing worse than watching someone (or finding yourself) with a foot ankle deep in a freezing cold ice bath. It happens to every single New Yorker one time or another. And yes, it's pretty much the most awful thing ever. (This phenomenon happens after heavy rain too but it's even more intensely horrible when there's snow involved). Most of us have learned our lesson by wearing proper boots but sometimes you aren't prepared so you have no choice but to hop, jump and leap over these puddles and just hope you land in a dry place.

By the time the snowfall ends, the snow lingers for a few days in piles in the corners of streets and sidewalks but it turns gray and dirty fast, disappearing in a matter of days. It's such a different experience from snow in the suburbs. I could visit my mom's house in New Jersey weeks after a snowfall and the snow on her lawn is still white and pristine as if it had just happened.

After a week of bad weather, I feel some cabin fever. Despite the city's functionality during a snow storm, it's the same as the suburbs. No one wants to leave their home if they don't have to. Any plan I had made to meet up with friends this was canceled. And even though I was getting a little stir crazy, I didn't want to leave my warm apartment either.

I finally put my boots on and dragged myself to the movie theater to see one of my Oscar movies when I came across this guy.



He's cute, but I am ready for springtime.