February 12, 2006
snow in the city
so my phone rang this morning.
my mom: "hi honey."
me: "hi mom."
my mom: "did i wake you up, honey?"
me: "no, i was awake, i was just praying."
my mom: "oh, i'm sorry. do you want me to call you back later?"
me: "mom, you called me to ask if it was snowing, didn't you?"
my mom: "yeah, how did you know? i was watching the weather channel. there's supposed to be lots of snow this weekend. how much can you see out your window?"
me: "about a foot. but the streets and sidewalks are plowed. it's fine, mom."
my mom: (switching to persian) "well how far do you have to walk from your dorm to school?
me: "10 meters, mom. i promise it'll be fine."
my mom: "ok, honey. be careful. i love you. bye."
so this morning's exchange was nothing new. my mom's a weather channel junkie. she watches it compulsively to check the weather in every city where each of her children resides. then she calls each of her children to inform them what the weather will be like, or what the weather is currently like (i.e. "naseem joon, it's raining in new york." -- "i know, mom. i'm looking at the rain out of my window."). that's just my mom. i think she gets away with it because she's so cute.
anyway, this morning's snowfall was, by contrast, something new. it's the first real snowfall we've had all winter. we've only had snow twice before since i've been here, and it was pretty mild both times. after getting used to chicago last year, winter in NYC was seeming downright tropical to me -- not near as much snow and not near as cold. since moving here, i've been the one less bundled up than everyone else, usually trying to convince them that the weather's not that bad at all.
but last night, we finally started to get some real snow. it's been snowing for about 12 hours now. there's plenty out on the streets, and the snow is still swirling. apparently, it's being called the blizzard of '06... which is kind of funny to me now, since i can recall snowstorms in chicago that were much worse, but no one batted an eyelash. maybe if i had come straight here from texas, this would've seemed a much bigger deal. right now, though, i just want to get out and walk in the snow. and i even find myself missing the morning routine in chicago -- shoveling and snowblowing the driveway with pam. strange to see how my frame of reference has shifted since this time last year.
anyway, i really hope i get to ice-skate in central park before the winter is out. in the meantime, isn't this a fabulous picture of snow in the city?
Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
I just want to know one thing, Nas:
when you said to your mom, "10 meters", did you say that in persian? And if so, would you have measured that distance in meters had you been speaking in english? Or, would you have converted that measurement into yards, saying "10.93611111 yards"?
Sigh. It's too bad we didn't get your snowfall. It's not fair that it is merely cold in Chicago, without the fun of a big snowfall. I can guarantee that the discussion in the office tomorrow morning will be about your storm, and how we need that snow more than you. I, for one, would be delighted to scare the passengers in my car by drifting around corners with my handbrake as if I was in Initial D :)
Posted by: greg at February 12, 2006 08:58 PMvery astute, andrew. i used meters because i was speaking in persian. :) if i'd been speaking english, i would've used feet.
i'm gonna go ahead and ignore that second comment.
Posted by: nas at February 12, 2006 09:41 PMI've gotta believe it's being called a blizzard because people downstate and on the coasts are babies, er I mean - we havent had much snow at all this year.. and I dont even remember a big big one last year either.
Those of us farther inland in the Northeast actually got literally a dusting - just a quick brushing and the car was clean.. and we couldnt help but laugh at Mother Nature all day yesterday. Dude, even the Olympics talked about the snow bound Northeast and we just shook our heads wondering where they were talking about.
NAS you got mom on there prefectly! WOW!!
Posted by: Artemis at February 14, 2006 02:18 AMstart sharing the snow... we're missing it up north.
and lol @ the worried mom bit.
Posted by: dan jones at February 14, 2006 09:52 PMi miss snow :(
so today mom drove the 40 minutes to my apartment unannounced to bring me one of my many coats that I had left at her house! She said the wheather channel guy had said that it was going to be cold today so I needed my coat. As you know I had ankle surgery and am not really going anywhere! And it's about 80 degrees F outside! She does get away with it purely through cuteness!
Posted by: Artemis at February 16, 2006 04:02 PMNaseem - Your mom and my dad would get along sooooo well. He not only watches the weather, but is on weather listservs for Chicago and Minnesota, and is an official weather watcher for the Minnesota state meteorologist. It is cute to get e-mails from him about the weather and for every phone conversation to start with a full weather report. What's not so cute: the frequency with which he and my mom cancel trips to see their kids because "a big storm" is coming and if they get on the road everyone will die. Usually, the "big storm" doesn't come and then family weekends end up not happening.
Posted by: kari at February 17, 2006 01:15 PMThis is so the opposite of persian parents that use every excuse to harrass their kids. Now a diffrent take on your siutaiton Kari if your parents where Persian they would use "the bad storm" as an excuse stay a few extra weeks in your probably small Chicago apartment...and make sure you are ok! And Persian parents never use these habits/obsessions to help anyone like being an "official wheather watcher"....just to harrass their kids!
Posted by: Artemis at February 18, 2006 01:07 AM