Back in New York.

Back in my comfort zone. Back amoung the streetlights and busses and trains and narrow streets and looming buildings and deep shadows and milling people and constant noise and everything else I've grown up with and feel vaguely uneasy without.

Well, comfortable for everything except the weather.

I'm lucky - it's only chilly, not freezing. I managed to dodge the huge wave of freeze and snow that washed over the NorthEast, and now it's back to normal fall weather. The 50s feel a lot less obnoxious in the end of October then they do in the begining of September. And it's been raining all week since I got home - which is at least predictable, unlike the sudden shifts from brightsunlight to pouring rain that kept taking me by surprise in Florida. (Although that rainstorm on Miami Beach as the sun went down was expected and pretty cool.)

And fall.

It's so pretty, but I hardly ever notice.

I don't really appreciate fall when it comes on gradually. When there's a little more day after day, it's just a another depressing reminder of how summer is over, and how freedom and warmth are being replaced by school/work and the invetible freezing cold. But coming into it suddenly, when it's in full bloom against the cold dark sky, when I can tell and be sure that the air smells different, and tastes different, and everything feels changed - it's stunning.

I still know, subconciously, that it's really a constant surrounding sign of death, and of the invetibility of winter, and of how miserable and nasty the weather will be for the next few months. But it's still beautiful.

Why does it take all of 5 minutes to adjust to Florida's heat, but it takes all winter to get used to NYC's cold?

And why isn't the heat on in the apartment? It's certainly chilly enough.

So I have almost completed my time among these gentle Floridians. Today I observed one of the strangest rituals practiced by the residents of Miami. They all gather at the chosen one's house to play video games. But instead of playing multiplayer games or trading off, one person plays a single player game and everyone else watches and comments. (and occasionally naps.) The game tonight was Brütäl Lëgënd, and the chosen player was me. With so many people cheering me on, I dared not falter or pause, much less take a bathroom break or dare suggest the heresy of playing another game. The game is hilarious and excellent and fun, so it wasn't much of a torture (especially compared to Pixel Guy a few nights earlier). But it was odd, not the sort of things I could not see many in my social group tolerating for more then a few minutes, much less an entire night. But it worked - I had a lot of fun, and it seemed to be some sort of bonding experience, and I felt a tiny bit like "one of the gang" at the end.



They don't seem to realize the gift they were born into, to reside in this magical world of eternal summer, where cold is just a myth, a story that happens to someone else in a far away land. They pump up the air conditioner even in the mild 70s nights, as if to experience this cold air they hear about. It leaves me, who's fled here to escape just such frigidy, shivering and covered in layers. But I can always retreat outside, where the wonderful warmth embraces me in a humid blanket once again.

What the hell?

Not only is it snowing back home - in October...

But now it's even cold down here!

Safely arrived in Florida. Had a very eventful morning. What follows is the entry I typed on the plane while trying to get the onboard wi-fi to work.

It's been a short but eventful day.
I'm typing this on the airplane, which I caught at the last second. They teased us with the promise of free wi-fi, but apparently you have to pay for most of it. The air in the cabin oscillates between freezing and painful or warm and overly dry.
I have an odd seat, but in a strange way, a good one. My original seat seems to have been taken by some very hip and nordic girls (possibly trans, I'm not sure) with some very well matched relaxingwear and lovely hairstyles. Not particularly caring about my assigned seat, I asked for the empty seats diagonally back from them. I'm sitting in a tiny blocked off section - just two rows of two chairs each. In front of me is a wall separating me from the steward/ess cabin, and the row behind me appears to be reserved for crew.
So, for the most part, I have an entire small corner of the plane all to my self. I can lean my seat back, I can put my feet up against the wall and try to nap. (If only I hadn't lost my travel pillow!) And most importantly, the other seat in my row is empty, so I can spread out, and I can put my fragile stuff there instead of crushing it in the overhead compartment.
But my window shows me nothing but a jet engine. Fortunately, I can see the window ahead of me before the wall, and watch as ghostly streams of unknown substance get sucked into the engine. The wing juts into my field of view, which, surprisingly, instead of being annoying, frames the ground with a wonderful triangle shape that makes certain features, like airfields, look all the prettier.

I wish there was some way to know what part of the world your airplane is flying over, so that when you look out the window, you would know what road and farms and towns you were looking at.

I wish I had thought to bring gum. Add that to the list of things not to forget next time. Along with my overcoat. It was warm enough today that I forgot to grab it while rushing out. I'll regret that on the ride home from the airport when I return.

The pilot just announced that temperature in Tampa is 88 degrees. In mid-October! PARADISE!

2009 shall forever be remembered as the summer that never was.

R.I.P. warmth. :(

Why is it so #@%& cold!?!?

I'm still waiting for summer to start.

This makes me very very unhappy. And ill.

At last, warmth! And nearly an entire week without rain!

Summer has finally begun!!

It's raining again.

Oh well. 3 full days of sunlight was a nice change.

The backyard is flooding.

I'm pretty sure it's rained well past 40 days and 40 nights now.

It's the middle of June! Isn't time for the April showers to end??

And maybe, just maybe, a bit of warmth would be appreciated too.

Would you look at that. It's winter again.

Occasionally NY weather does fulfill the old joke/prophecy: "In New York City you get all four seasons... sometimes in the same week."

And in the space of 9 days, we've went from winter to spring to summer to fall and back to winter again.

How hard is it snowing?

It's snowing so hard that at the wedding, the Russian immigrant workers were complaining that it wasn't this cold back in the old county and that "it shouldn't be snowing on the first day of spring." (?)

It's snowing so hard that I almost got into a 2mph rear ender because the car just wouldn't stop, despite how slow it was originally going. Fortunately, I honked and the guy moved up while I stopped.

It's snowing so hard that someone lost control of their car on Main St, right by my block, and jumped the median and hit a traffic light so hard it knocked over onto the car. I saw the wreckage as I was returning from the wedding, watching the Hatzolah ambulance peel out and speed off as best it could.

And then hour later, the car exploded.

It's snowing so hard that I went out on a walk to 7/11 at 3 AM, and the Vleigh Pl road was covered in inches of fresh snow for us to run through. Even Main St. and Jewel Av. were nearly devoid of cars... it seemed most people listened to the weather report and got home early.

It's snowing so hard, that when I entered 7/11, I my parka and beard were covered in snow, along with the rest of me. The Korean fellow going out to shovel said "Bad outside. You sleep here."
I wasn't sure if he was kidding.
Then, on the return journey, as I once again passed the dead husk of the burned out car, and turned down my block, a fellow with his car stopped in front of me offered me a lift. "I live right down the street." said I. "It's up to you" said he.
I walked the last block, warm with how the snow brings out kindness in our fellow man.

It's snowing so hard, I'm now gonna go sink in to a nice hot bath and relax.

It's snowing again!!!

Today is the 3rd day of 60F temperatures we've had this December.

The weather is getting weirder every year.

We appear to have jumped straight from mid-spring weather to mid-summer weather with no in between.

Normally, I'd be ecstatic, but being stuck indoors most of the time means I can't enjoy it as much.

And when I do go out, I have to push myself along in a wheel chair. And since it's Shavuos, in dress clothes, too. That makes it a bit too hot, even for me.

But I did get to go out over the weekend, to the MoCCA Fest, thanks to paper_crystals. It was quite fun, and I got to touch base with a few creators who's works I follow, and randomly met up with xoder and erin_trying.

They in turn introduced me to angst_pirate, and we all hung out and enjoyed some very yummy and weather appropriate ice cream.

My leg regretted the exertion the next day, but my mind and psyche definately don't.

Remember when snow in February was normal, and 60 degree days were rare??