Snow Days

February 13, 2014

Wheaton Simis

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There is so much snow in New York! And it's still falling in cotton clumps, bed sheets full being thrown from the rafters in the sky. An icicle has wound its way around a power line. The wind drones like a far-off jet engine at Laguardia. On the streets, people huddle in their coats, burying their noses into the zippers. They shuffle through the snow with short steps, shoulders raised to their frosted ears, and look up to greet each other and say with their eyes, "This is crazy, right!"

When snow obscures the lines between sidewalk and road, between driveways, parking spots, and drop-off zones, the barriers between people seem to disappear, too. Now, returning from the diner with my coffee in hand, a mother says "Good morning!" as we pass in a crosswalk, the top of her head pushing against the hood of her jacket. A boy with the day off from school says "Thank you!" as I hold a door open for him. A man steps aside for me to navigate a narrow stretch of the footpath beaten against the falling snow. "Go ahead!" he yells.

But the path cannot contain me; fences and walls have become large snowbanks. I run playfully through the streets, through intersections, and between cars. When I arrive back at my building, a three-family walk-up in Astoria, I strike up a conversation with the woman shoveling her steps next door. They're the first words we've…

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Wheaton Simis

Wheaton is a writer living in New York and other places. He also makes videos, which you can see right here: wheatonsimis.com