The Heat is On
It is summer in New York.
The good part about it is the heat. No more layering of clothes. No more the long ritual in the mornings just to be able to get out the door to get something from the deli - cashmere socks, boots, sweater, jacket, scarf and gloves. Goodbye to them all. Hello silky blouses, strappy sandals, flowing skirts and clothes that show arms, legs, neck and more skin! Hello hunks with the toned biceps and biceps and shoulders and tight abs (wooohooo!).
The bad part about it is ...well, the heat. Flabby men with hairy backs and bulging tummies walking -no, jiggling up and down the streets gasping for breath glistening in the heat with sweat.
To be fair -fat women going with the fashion with tiny tops and xtremely low-cut bottoms - flabs bursting all over. And also women who wear high heels and mini skirts despite legs that replicate the interstate freeway system of the United States. I have sworn off taking the subway since the heat gets trapped underneath the asphalt streets and a two minute wait for the train feels like a two-hour immersion in the sauna.
This is the weather East-Coast style. You always have the weather to talk about - when it is too cold, too hot or even when it is just perfect. "Great day we are having," you will find yourself smiling to a stranger in the elevator on the way to your floor and then you discuss about the weekend weather until one of you stops on your floor. A good way to meet people.
I have no idea if I should complain about the heat when I have already made winter my least favorite season of all. My first winter on the East Coast stretched for 6 months. Winter and snow are beautiful at the start. Initially I was in awe at the beauty of fresh fallen snow blanketing everything in pristine white. I had my first white Christmas with Nicole in 2002 and we played like children hurling snowballs at each other and gleefully running and flopping on the knee high snow. Then came January when snow is an everyday part of life. Its novelty started to wear out. It was too much trouble to love the snow especially after it has turned to slush. And the layers of clothing you had to put on to stay warm and then shedding them off just to be able to enjoy a simple movie or dinner; then putting them on again before you set out to the streets. It was too much trouble to stay in love with anything. On Valentine’s Day weekend we were dumped with more than 20 inches of snow and we aptly dubbed it the Blizzard of 2003. Temperatures for weeks lingered below freezing and it had started to get overwhelmingly dismal. That was it for winter for me. Zilch love around here for cold freezing weather.
Autums are more dramatic with the changing of colors and the leaves falling to the ground with the breeze, almost fragile. Trees become bare, the air starts to cool and emotionally you mourn with the trees in their farewell to life, to prepare for a long sleep.
The good thing about being in New York is you dress for four seasons. Expensive but how much better to enjoy everything - tank tops and sandals or flip flops in the summer; bright pastel skirts and silky blouses in the springtime; knee high boots, tweed jackets and velvet scarves for the autumn; and, errrr.... down blankets and christmas trees in the winter.
For now I will bask in the sunshine, and not complain about the humidity or the flabby smelly man walking past me on Third Avenue. I will have my lunches at the park on 47th with the fountains and the pigeons. I will walk as far as I am comfortable on the way home. I will bike if I can find the time, at Central Park or the promenade next to the East River or the Hudson River Park. Or I will travel upstate to my friend's house to enjoy the pool :).
C'est la vie. Everything just passing by, hopefully a beautiful day at a time.
The good part about it is the heat. No more layering of clothes. No more the long ritual in the mornings just to be able to get out the door to get something from the deli - cashmere socks, boots, sweater, jacket, scarf and gloves. Goodbye to them all. Hello silky blouses, strappy sandals, flowing skirts and clothes that show arms, legs, neck and more skin! Hello hunks with the toned biceps and biceps and shoulders and tight abs (wooohooo!).
The bad part about it is ...well, the heat. Flabby men with hairy backs and bulging tummies walking -no, jiggling up and down the streets gasping for breath glistening in the heat with sweat.
To be fair -fat women going with the fashion with tiny tops and xtremely low-cut bottoms - flabs bursting all over. And also women who wear high heels and mini skirts despite legs that replicate the interstate freeway system of the United States. I have sworn off taking the subway since the heat gets trapped underneath the asphalt streets and a two minute wait for the train feels like a two-hour immersion in the sauna.This is the weather East-Coast style. You always have the weather to talk about - when it is too cold, too hot or even when it is just perfect. "Great day we are having," you will find yourself smiling to a stranger in the elevator on the way to your floor and then you discuss about the weekend weather until one of you stops on your floor. A good way to meet people.
I have no idea if I should complain about the heat when I have already made winter my least favorite season of all. My first winter on the East Coast stretched for 6 months. Winter and snow are beautiful at the start. Initially I was in awe at the beauty of fresh fallen snow blanketing everything in pristine white. I had my first white Christmas with Nicole in 2002 and we played like children hurling snowballs at each other and gleefully running and flopping on the knee high snow. Then came January when snow is an everyday part of life. Its novelty started to wear out. It was too much trouble to love the snow especially after it has turned to slush. And the layers of clothing you had to put on to stay warm and then shedding them off just to be able to enjoy a simple movie or dinner; then putting them on again before you set out to the streets. It was too much trouble to stay in love with anything. On Valentine’s Day weekend we were dumped with more than 20 inches of snow and we aptly dubbed it the Blizzard of 2003. Temperatures for weeks lingered below freezing and it had started to get overwhelmingly dismal. That was it for winter for me. Zilch love around here for cold freezing weather.
Autums are more dramatic with the changing of colors and the leaves falling to the ground with the breeze, almost fragile. Trees become bare, the air starts to cool and emotionally you mourn with the trees in their farewell to life, to prepare for a long sleep.
The good thing about being in New York is you dress for four seasons. Expensive but how much better to enjoy everything - tank tops and sandals or flip flops in the summer; bright pastel skirts and silky blouses in the springtime; knee high boots, tweed jackets and velvet scarves for the autumn; and, errrr.... down blankets and christmas trees in the winter.
For now I will bask in the sunshine, and not complain about the humidity or the flabby smelly man walking past me on Third Avenue. I will have my lunches at the park on 47th with the fountains and the pigeons. I will walk as far as I am comfortable on the way home. I will bike if I can find the time, at Central Park or the promenade next to the East River or the Hudson River Park. Or I will travel upstate to my friend's house to enjoy the pool :).
C'est la vie. Everything just passing by, hopefully a beautiful day at a time.