When I heard that the East Coast is going to be hit by a snowstorm later tonight, I kinda wished I was in New York to welcome it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a maniac who wants a city to be buried in snow, but I have been through Hurricane Sandy a couple of years ago and I must say I enjoyed the entire experience.
First of all, it was the excitement in waiting for something I wasn’t used to. I went to grocery stores to make provisions for no one knew how long it would take.
The night before the hurricane was announced the downtown area of NYC (where I lived) lost power. So we lit up candles, drank red wine and play cards, making innocent jokes about the situation and being sure that we will get the power back by the next morning.
We went to bed around 9:30 pm but I couldn’t fall asleep so I read something on my iPad.
Next morning everything outside seemed to be fine, just like after a rainy night. We didn’t have electricity and the network on our phone wasn’t working. It was pretty cold so we made a pile of firewood in the fireplace and lit them up. Trust me, a fireplace in a loft in Soho looks pretty amazing.
The stove was electric so we had to make coffee and breakfast right in the fireplace. I helped a lot with the fire and my landlady said that of course I was gonna survive everywhere: I’m Romanian.
I took the bicycle around noon to see what happened: I saw a bunch of trees fallen down and that everything was closed. I went uptown to get reception, I saw friends and bought pizza for lunch. By the time I got back it was already cold, but we ate it anyway.
And we carried on like this for almost a week.
I would do the same thing this time. I would go to Strand and buy a bag full of books. I would lit up the fireplace and get comfortable. I would take it all easy. And I think all New Yorkers should do the same. No work to do, nothing to worry about, living off provisions just like in a hiking adventure, read and drink coffee.
Can you imagine how beautifully quiet New York would be covered in white powder?
