Like much of the country, the NY metro area has been trapped in the grip of a polar vortex (I think it's kinda like a remorhaz. Working the graveyard shift last night was not fun at all, the mercury dipped to three degrees Fahrenheit (about sixteen below Celsius). High winds made it feel even colder (about minus fifteen Fahrenheit, minus twenty-six Celsius). Needless to say, I reduced my outdoor exposure, but the demands of the job entailed being outside for about twenty minutes on a few occasions. Again, it was not a fun night at all. The crazy thing is that the temperature dropped more than fifty degrees over the course of a mere twenty-four hours. I wasn't too uncomfortable, I made sure to bring plenty of layers of clothes, and I slathered myself nose to toes with plenty of Queen Helene Cocoa Butter Lotion before getting dressed. Just as Gertrude Ederle did before her English Channel swim, I greased myself before heading out.
Even after sunup, the temperature didn't break single digits. There weren't a lot of people on the roads at 8AM, and I wonder if a lot of people decided to take a day off, or were granted a weather-related work delay. I hit the supermarket on my way home from work and bought a pork shoulder to roast, mainly because I wanted to keep a slow oven going all day long. Needless to say, I haven't left the house since getting home. Tomorrow, the temperature is supposed to jump to a balmy twenty-five, and by Saturday, it'll be pushing sixty once more.
It's weird having half-a-year's worth of weather fluctuations in the space of a week.
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3 comments:
I just cannot imagine. Seattle, Walla Walla & Paris are the farthest north I've ever lived; none of them were generally below freezing or snowy.
Anyway, it'll be in the 60°s all wk. out here on the coast. (Lows in the mid to upper 40°s at night.)
Geography sure is wacky.
I slathered myself nose to toes with plenty of Queen Helene Cocoa Butter Lotion before getting dressed.
Shirley you mean "tiger balm".
48, damp and windy when I left the office in SOMA this PM. I had a long, complex debate with myself over whether to bring my sweatshirt today. I'm SO glad I lost that argument. I'd usually gladly take snow and dry 30s over fog and wind off the bay, but you start talking about single digits and I'm with Bouffant - in California we do that up around Tahoe, and you go there for fun and can usually stay fairly evenly drunk (hint - Nevada serves alcohol 24 hours a day).
But all this Polar Vortex and winter storms has me thinking about interrupted municipal services and short-term urban survival. Blog post in the works, but one of the key questions is small, useable stoves for use when the power's out...
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