Louise T. Guinther

Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as winter in New York City. You wouldn’t have known it in recent seasons, when wet, icky days of rain and wind have all but replaced the blissful beauty of a blizzard, and the chance of an actual pond freezing over has been as likely as a similar event in the netherworld. But yesterday, encouraged by the appropriately January-ish chill, my other half and I took advantage of the holiday weekend to go ice skating in Central Park. I’m happy to report that the good old Wollman rink was less crowded and rowdy than I remembered from our last visit, and although there was no Skater’s Waltz to be heard, the music was not nearly so obtrusive. Our fellow skaters were a typically New Yorky mix, all—with the exception of one impassive-looking woman in an elegant woolen coat, who had mastered the art of mincing about fastidiously on her blades—reveling in that wonderful sensation of weightlessness one gets from gliding freely across the slippery ice, whether or not one has any sense of balance. I confess that at this point in my life, I couldn’t help thinking of our adventure as a bone-density test—which we both passed by falling down without breaking anything. But that one old-ladyish thought aside, my childhood was revived for the duration of our session, and we left resolving not to wait so long for our next ice-skating frolic.

Then tonight, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a real live winter wonderland right outside my front door. Our tree-lined street creates a wonderful snow-globe impression, with all its intertwining branches and gabled roofs to catch and display the white blanket. The glowing street lamps and post lanterns illuminate wide circles of falling flakes, and a number of die-hards still have their Christmas lights going too, creating a magical effect of muted colors reflected on the snow.

I don’t suppose this aberration will persist long enough to produce proper sledding conditions, but hope springs eternal, so I am keeping my Flexible Flyer at the ready, just in case.