Spring Is Here!

65 DEGREES.

That was the temperature when Atticus and I walked to Edith's school yesterday to pick her up.

Amazing.

They were barely in the house for the following three hours. We got out the bikes and scooters. Friends and neighbors stopped by to play and chat. We even ate supper on the front porch.

The kids reluctantly came inside a bit after 7 and would have stayed out even longer had it not been time to get ready for bed. And it sure didn't take them long to fall asleep.

Welcome, spring. You've been missed.

The Neverending Summer

Yesterday was October 8, and I got out the kiddie pool and sprinkler. Edith dug out a dress to wear to school. The temperature reached 88 degrees, if not higher.

Is this fall for real?

The leaves have started to fall, and the kids had their bathing suits on. Neighborhood porches are lined with pumpkins and Halloween decorations while they played in the sprinkler.

I like the heat better than the cold, and I'm far from complaining about the weather. It just feels weird to wear shorts while we're counting down the days until our fall cabin weekend with friends. I keep forgetting that it's October and not July.

But while the thermometer will reach into the 80s through tomorrow, autumn is knocking on our door. The overnight lows are in the 30s and 40s for the following week, and I'm trying not to think about the snow that will be here before we know it. I'll take the pool above icicles any day.

Heat Wave

Autumn has begun. It's been 90+ degrees.

I had replaced the shorts in Atticus's drawer with pants; the shorts came back out again. Edith brought her swimsuit to school on Friday for a water day, then wore her second swimsuit the next day when she begged Paul to get out the plastic pool. And yesterday I took the kids to a local splash pad for three hours.

It's hot.

We haven't turned on our air conditioning. I make sure to let in the cool outdoor air first thing in the morning and then again at night. Some of the schools in the large Columbus district don't have air conditioning (and I hear that some classrooms don't even have windows). They let out early yesterday and are scheduled to again today in order to get kids home before the worst of the heat. Students who live closer than 2 miles from their schools aren't eligible to ride the bus, so I guess it's easier to walk home earlier in the afternoon rather than later.

Still, I'm not complaining. I don't mind fall except for the fact that it means winter is that much closer. Bring on the sunny weather for a few days more.

Spring in the Winter

In the dead of winter, in the middle of my least favorite month, it's nice to get a bit of a reprieve. This past weekend, I got two of them.

First, Mom and Dad came for an overnight visit. That always feels like a vacation since, of course, the kids just want to play with Grandma and Grandpa and ... that's it. No bothering me for 24+ hours. Score.

And second, the weather was beautiful. I'd take temperatures in the mid-60s any spring day, let alone in January. We all spent quite a bit of time outdoors, and the kids even broke out the chalk.

But Grandma and Grandpa returned home, and this week brings back rain and cold weather, and maybe some snow later on. Oh, how the real world interferes.

April Doldrums

Are April doldrums a thing? Seems like it this year. At the beginning of the month was Atticus's birthday. At the end is a road trip. But the middle is filled with this and that and nothing too exciting, at least so far.

Of course, it doesn't help that it's been cold, rainy and even snowy lately. We've gotten way too used to spring sunshine and long walks to go back to gray skies and being stuck indoors.

Luckily the forecast looks much nicer over the next week -- so much so that I hardly know what to do with myself. Playground? Walk around the neighborhood? Run around the backyard? It hardly matters as long as we're outside. Spring, I hardly knew you.

Winter Blahs

The winter blahs have officially set in, with snow on the ground and temperatures below 0 this past week. The thermometer hovered around freezing yesterday -- an absolute heat wave.

Of course, the Christmas tree is down and the lights are mostly gone in the neighborhood. It's a seasonal letdown that I should be used to after 33 years, yet I never am.

And as icing to the worst cake ever, yesterday I had to take a three-hour test to determine if I have gestational diabetes. Three hours in a lab with four blood draws. What fun on a Sunday morning.

But there have been some good times and good news this month. We're finally in contract to sell our house on the west side of Columbus, the one that Paul and I bought the month before we married in 2003. We had a successful brunch party with my playgroup pals, their husbands and children on Saturday. And Ohio State's football team is playing in the national championship game tonight!

On a separate note, starting next week my blog will be published two days a week, on Tuesday and Friday. There will be no Wednesday post this week.

Spring in Ohio vs. NYC

It's been a long winter, and I wonder if it's even over. As late as last Saturday we got enough snowfall to significantly cover the yard, although it had disappeared by the next afternoon.

This is always the time of year in which I'm anxious for spring weather to arrive, and that was true in New York as well as Ohio.

Dare I say it, but in New York the cabin fever was even worse. In Ohio, our car is in the garage only a few feet away. In New York, both the subway and our parked vehicle were blocks away, giving me an even lower incentive to go outside in cold weather.

Of course, our Brooklyn apartment was also smaller than our Columbus house, intensifying the cooped-up feeling. I remember walking to the subway on some of the first lovely days of the year and sincerely feeling a sense of elation: It was spring, I was in New York and life couldn't get any better.

I expect this spring will be different then any others I have spent in Ohio -- it's my first with a kid, with a park within walking distance and with a stay-at-home job that will allow me to completely take advantage of the weather and amenities nearby. Edith and I made a pilgrimage to the park on a one-off sunny day a few weeks back, and played in the backyard, too. Oh, a backyard -- something else we didn't have in Brooklyn!

Paul is looking forward to grilling again -- the Weber stayed at his Mom's house while we were in New York. And I'm looking forward to eating a few meals on the front porch, if the mosquitoes don't beat me to it. But most of all, I'm just looking forward to the warm sunny days that make me forget what snow even feels like.

When Will Winter Disappear Already?

January is my least favorite month. February is second from the bottom. But this year, the two months have merged into one awful, cold, mushy mess.

As much as I hated trudging to work in weather like this in years past, looking back on it I think it was good for me. I had to get outside, even if it was just from the apartment to the subway or the car to the office.

Now I not only don't have to go outside, I actively avoid it if the weather is below freezing. That's mostly for Edith's sake, but I'm not very motivated to do so on my own account either.

Edith and I aren't total recluses. At the beginning of the week we go to story time at the library, even if we have to drive instead of walk. Mid-week we have a playgroup meeting -- although I'm always pleased when we host so I can stay inside! And at the end of the week I try to plan some outing, even if it's just to get groceries.

This winter doesn't seem so exciting when I put it in black and white like that. And it really hasn't been. But we have managed to take short walks when the weather has cooperated, and my freelancing is keeping my fingers busy as least. Still, I can't wait to say goodbye to the snow and hello to the sun.

Hurricane Sandy, One Year Later

When Hurricane Sandy battered New York one year ago, our lives weren't as affected as so many other residents up and down the East Coast. We were unharmed, our apartment was intact, our car was fine and heck, our lights barely flickered. I felt extremely lucky as the news filled with people who had lost their cars, their homes, their lives.

Paul and I were unscathed, but that doesn't mean that Hurricane Sandy will be unremembered. The hurricane didn't harm us, but it did affect us in two big ways.

First, it caused the cancellation of the 2012 New York City Marathon that Paul was scheduled to run. Instead, Paul will be running the marathon this year. Yes, after years of trying to get in, Paul will be participating only after we move out of New York.

And second, it played a bit part in the not-ideal birth of Edith less than a month later. The hurricane closed many nearby hospitals, which in turn meant that the one I went to received pregnant women who would have gone elsewhere had the hurricane not shuttered those doors. So I got stuck in a harsh, unused surgery room since all of the pleasant birthing rooms were occupied. (Of course, that was only a small part of why the birth didn't go as planned, but that's another blog post. I.e., see the link above.)

As the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy has rolled around, I continue to hope that those whose lives were devastated one year ago are back on their feet. The hurricane is long gone, but it won't be soon forgotten.

Finding "Nemo" in Brooklyn

In the last two years, New York has seen two hurricanes and even a small earthquake, so it's only natural that a blizzard was to be next on the list.

Worries about winter storm Nemo began Thursday, when drivers hoarded gas, remembering the shortages and rationing after Hurricane Sandy. Our car already had half of a tank, so Paul didn't have to bother filling up. Still, he took the subway into work instead of driving. I was glad he did. The snow, rain and then snow again began just in time for Friday's morning commute, was even worse for the evening commute and didn't let up until early Saturday morning.

But when all was said and done, the storm wasn't bad at all, at least in our area of Brooklyn. News reports say that Central Park got 11 inches of snow, but I'd be surprised if Bay Ridge got half that. There were certainly enough flakes to cover the sidewalks and streets, but not so much that the plows hadn't cleared the roadways here pretty quickly.

Of course, we were lucky. Parts of Long Island got two feet of snow, and accumulation in Connecticut reached upwards of three feet. In Bay Ridge, however, it was just a normal snowfall.

Surviving Winter in New York

If the song has it right and Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year, then it's unfortunate that the two months following are just the opposite.

"The Least Wonderful Time of the Year" probably won't be a song anytime soon, but that's what January and February are in New York. I never particularly liked the dead of winter in Ohio either, but here it's even worse.

The pristine white flakes that rest on glistening fields in the Midwest quickly turn into a gray, mushy mess in New York.

Temperatures that dip into freezing in Ohio may make you run to your car a little faster, but in New York you have the same long walk to the subway no matter what the temperature. Only in the winter, you don't have the promise of heated car seats -- you only have the high probability of waiting on an equally freezing subway platform for a train to arrive.

Sure, New York has the same world-class museums and excellent restaurants all year round, but you still have to venture outside to get to them without the aid of a warm car. And many of the things that make New York so special -- like the large parks and the ability to walk to where ever you want to be -- are shelved til spring unless you want to risk frostbite.

And so we wait out winter inside, hoping the gray skies will turn to sunshine and fool us even for a moment that it's warmer outside than the thermometer proclaims. It never is. But a cozy blanket and the clank-clanking of the radiators confirm that at least you'll be warm on the couch. That -- and a warm pair of mittens when you must defy Mother Nature and take to the sidewalks -- will help this winter eventually pass like all others.

Getting Gas After Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is now more than two weeks in the past, and in Bay Ridge at least, things are back to normal.

As I wrote post-storm, not much changed in Bay Ridge in any case. There was a gigantic tree that fell on a house about a block away, but the house didn't seem to sustain much damage, and the tree has been hauled away. We've heard that the promenade next to the shore was beaten up, but we haven't been to see it.

Either way, neighborhood life has largely moved on. Of course, there are still relief efforts for the parts of New York that were hit much worse -- residents here and elsewhere are collecting and delivering food and supplies to the waterfront communities that were, and still are, devastated. Things are definitely not back to normal for residents in these neighborhoods.

Luckily for Paul and me, our biggest concern was keeping gas in the car so we could make it to the hospital when Edith decides she wants to make her grand entrance. Our tank was just fine immediately following the storm. But after the hurricane, when the subways were still shut down, Paul drove to work as he normally does. A commute of about five or six miles that normally takes around 40 minutes took two-and-a-half hours instead. By the time he returned to Bay Ridge, the tank was less than a quarter full.

So the car stayed parked. When the subway was restored to downtown Brooklyn, Paul took it to work for the next two weeks. Stations that had gas had lines that were hours long. Drivers had better luck filling up their tanks in Staten Island, but the bridge toll (almost $10, even with our E-ZPass) hardly made the quest worth it since we didn't absolutely need more fuel and could get by without it.

Finally, a gas rationing plan was instituted last Friday: cars with license plates ending in odd numbers could get gas on odd-numbered days. Vehicles with license plates ending in even numbers or 0 could get gas on even-numbered days. Paul filled up the tank on Wednesday without waiting in line. He didn't see anyone checking to make sure he had the appropriate license plate number. (He did.)

The rationing is to continue at least through the week in New York City, although it ended Tuesday in New Jersey, where it also started earlier. In the meantime, Paul is happily driving to work again, and we have plenty of gas left to spare to get us to labor and delivery.

Hurricane Sandy Hits New York

When Hurricane Sandy first entered our vocabulary last last week, I wasn't too worried. Last year's Hurricane Irene didn't much affect New York City despite dire warnings. I figured Sandy would be more of the same.

Over the weekend it became clear that this was something different. While the hurricane came ashore south of New York, near Atlantic City, it was clear that the winds and water surges were going to cause trouble here. The only question was how much.

Hurricane Sandy coverage was on our TV nearly nonstop Monday, and our Facebook friends kept us up to date about what was happening in and around our neighborhood. After the worst of it began near 7 p.m., the winds got extremely strong outside of our apartment, though the rain was barely more than a shower.

From what I've heard, Bay Ridge seems to have been mostly spared, with some downed trees and maybe some electrical wires. Some of the shoreline, from what we've heard, is messed up. Other neighborhoods -- in all the boroughs, Long Island, New Jersey and elsewhere -- came out far, far worse. At least 40 people died. Houses were destroyed. Houses simply floated way.

In a way, Paul and I came out even better after this storm than we did after last year's Hurricane Irene: back then the cable that connected our Dish Network snapped and we had to schedule a repairman. This time, we didn't even have that. The lights flickered a few times, and that was it. When I see on the news about the lost lives, lost property and millions of people who lost power, I certainly feel my luck.

However, the subway system was shut down Sunday evening before the storm and then was flooded during the worst of it. No trains until further notice.

In addition, my office lost electricity and won't reopen until the power is back on. I was off Monday and Tuesday, and I expect the same today.

Two hurricanes in two years. Here's hoping this is the worst New York will see for a while.

Weird Weather (at Least in Ohio)

As my family and friends in Ohio have lately lived through tornado-like winds and several weeks of 90+ degree-temperatures, I've been comparatively comfortable.

The key word in "comparatively." "Comfortable" is a difficult word for me to use to describe myself as I sit sweating in front of a box fan. But when you consider that we've turned on the bedroom air conditioner only once this year, I know I'm lucky. With a ceiling fan and a bowl full of frozen grapes, I can make it through the day.

Even as the midwest was in the middle of a heatwave and drought, New York was experiencing springlike temperatures and rain, rain, rain. And as the recent derecho has knocked out power for thousands of customers in Ohio, including many people I know, I'm content to be hot during the day and cool enough at night to require a light sheet.

When I mentioned last week to a friend or two that my hometown was to reach 106 degrees, I was quick to say that this was not the norm. Usually the weather in New York and Ohio is practically identical, aside from the occasional hurricane threat. Sure, we generally don't have rain or snow at the exact same time, but never have two summers been so disparate in my two homes.

It's just been a typical summer in New York. I wish Ohio could say the same.

On another topic completely, I wish everyone a happy Independence Day. The blog will return (I promise!) on Friday.

A Dreary New York Winter

I've got a bad case of the winter blahs.

By my calculations, I haven't left Brooklyn on a Saturday or Sunday since mid-January. That isn't to say we haven't done anything. There was the Chinese New Year celebration, for example, and our own dinner party last weekend. But it's still unusual for us not to go into Manhattan for at least dinner for so long.

Paul says that Manhattan's sparkle has finally worn off. I denied this at first, but maybe he's partly right. When we first moved here, a drop in temperature couldn't keep me away from a museum or interesting restaurant. But now we've been there and tried that, and it takes more to whisk me to a subway platform for a 20 minute wait for a train. And as Paul reminded me, I work in Manhattan. A trip to the city doesn't necessarily equal excitement when it's so routine.

I suspect the fog will lift when spring arrives. Ever since we moved here, I've loved combining a walk through Central Park or a Manhattan neighborhood with dinner in the city. But that's certainly not easy to do when it's 40 degrees and dark at 6 p.m.

Until warmer weather and longer days arrive, however, we're reacquainting ourselves with Bay Ridge restaurants, all within walking distance. After all, the perks of living in New York aren't limited to your proximity to Broadway and the ballet. It's also the proximity to good take-out hummus -- across the street.

NYC's First Snow of Winter 2011-2012

New York City got its first real snowfall of the season on Saturday, but as far as I was concerned we could have kept on waiting.

I was beginning to think (read: hope) that we just might escape winter without the sounds of shovels scraping the sidewalk. It's been an odd season. After all, the first Saturday of January was so warm that some people were walking around Bay Ridge without even wearing a coat. The only real winter-like weather was way back in October, when a freak snowstorm dropped big, wet flakes that made a slushy mess on the sidewalks and roads.

But when I awoke Saturday morning, there was a thick layer of white on the cars and streets. When all was said and done, about 4 inches had fallen. But I won't complain too loudly -- today we're supposed to return to unseasonably warm weather in the 50s.

January is typically my least favorite month -- the holidays are over, the decorations come down and the weather is frigid. If every January were like this, however ... well, I could get used to that.

Weathering Hurricane Irene in Brooklyn

Hurricane Irene had more bark than bite in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Between the TV commentators and grocery store lines, you'd think we would have just experienced the storm of the century. Instead, it seemed like we received just slightly more rain with slightly stronger winds than usual. Paul and I slept through the worst of it.

Yes, we were lucky. Other areas of New York lost power and experienced flooding and broken branches.Our biggest inconvenience: our Dish Network went out and a technician is coming this week to repair it.

With our location about a mile from the shore -- not to mention three stories up -- we weren't worried at all about flooding. (That wasn't the case in other areas of New York City -- places like Coney Island, the Rockaways, Battery Park City and much of coastal Staten Island were evacuated.) We were more concerned about losing electricity and the possibility of shattered windows. There wasn't much we could do, however, but make sure we had a working flashlight (we did) and enough food to last through the weekend.

Many were preparing for the worst. Near a Rite Aid on Friday evening I saw two people walking away with the essentials -- one had a carton of bottled water, and the other a 12-pack of beer. Grocery stores were crowded and shelves quickly emptied. It took two tries to get a loaf of bread -- the grocery store nearest our place Friday night had only a few packages of hot dog buns and a lonely garlic baguette. I had better luck at a larger grocery store the next day.

Saturday was gray and humid with periodic drizzles throughout the afternoon. The subway shut down at noon with rumors that it might not reopen until Monday afternoon. Several neighborhood businesses plastered long strips of tape on their windows, hoping, I'm sure, that they wouldn't be needed.

We stayed up until about 5 a.m., tracking the storm online and watching CNN until we lost our signal. The seals around a few of our windows our bad; by this time we had to carefully place some buckets and towels on the sills and sop up some water. I awoke at 7 a.m. and put out another bowl. When I got up again three hours later, all was calm and the worst had passed. By the time Irene arrived, she wasn't a hurricane, but instead a tropical storm.

As I write this on Sunday afternoon, the subway system is still shut down. It isn't expected to be running again for the morning commute.

A week or two ago I thought the theme of today's blog post would be about marriage -- it's our eighth wedding anniversary tomorrow. And so I'll end this post with a bad joke. If I've learned anything in eight years, it's that sometimes you just have to weather the storm.

My Very First Earthquake

Post-earthquake evacuation

I was sitting at my desk at work when my chair started to tremble.

At first I didn't think much of it. There's been a lot of construction on the building next door, and the drilling has become so commonplace that I've tuned it out. But this time I didn't hear anything.

Then the trembling started again. Almost simultaneously a coworker and I confirmed with each other that, indeed, we were not crazy. Other departments in the company seemed to be doing the same thing. Just as we were about to head for the door, our receptionist made an announcement over the intercom to evacuate the building.

At this point we were fairly certain it was an earthquake. That wasn't the case at first. Some, flashing back to 9/11, immediately imagined another attack. As we gathered outside of the building, however, the receptionist told us she had just received a call at the front desk from our Washington, DC, office, informing her that they were evacuating because of an earthquake. Seconds later, just before 2 p.m., the tremors started in New York.

Cellphone calls were impossible to make, but Twitter and Facebook were working. Between them and my coworkers, I learned that the quake was felt even in Ohio.

Just as we were all feeling pretty safe, a few women from half a block away started dashing toward us and then the other end of the block, and crowds more followed her. Not sure what was going on, we ran in that direction, too. One of the women told us someone had seen a building swaying. I suspect someone was letting their imagination get the best of them. In any case, no buildings collapsed.

We returned to our floor about an hour after the quake hit, but that didn't mean the day's events were out of our minds. What's more, some companies were using the earthquake as a marketing tool within hours, offering special earthquake discounts just for the day.

Except for the 30 seconds of minor shaking, it was a normal day. The subway wasn't even delayed. And so ends my first brush with a natural disaster. Although in this case -- when some people couldn't even feel the tremors -- I'm not sure "disaster" is the appropriate word.

Beating and Retreating from the NYC Heat

When the living room hit 93 degrees, it was time to turn on the air conditioner.

I had resisted all summer. I not only have a high tolerance for heat, but also get cold extremely easily. When others are comfortable, I'm wrapped up in a blanket. When others are sweating, I'm finally comfortable.

That's generally true, but not the past few days. Central Park hit triple digits, and Newark, New Jersey, even reached 108. The extreme humidity made it feel even hotter.

Our sole air conditioner is in our bedroom, so Paul and I have been camping out. On Friday night, we assembled turkey wraps with cold cuts and lugged our supper and laptop onto the bed and watched a few episodes of the first season of "Fringe" on DVD. Armed with books, newspapers and the laptop, I barely left the room for the next 20 hours.

On Saturday night we were invited to a backyard barbecue whose start time understandably got pushed further and further back as the forecast predicted higher and higher temperatures. By the time we arrived at 7 p.m., the sun had mostly set. Even when the sky was black, however, the heat and stagnant air made most people's drink of choice plain old water.

Sunday was cloudy and "only" in the high 80s in the mid-afternoon, a welcome reprieve. I even ventured into the living room for an hour or so earlier in the afternoon, but the indoor thermometer still read 90 degrees. I retreated into the bedroom.

This is only our fourth summer here, and each year there have been a few terribly hot, uncomfortable days (not so different from Ohio in that respect). Usually we've had a couple by now. The last few days, however, truly have produced record-breaking temperatures. But when it comes right down to it, does 95 really feel all that different from 105? Not when you're holed up in an air conditioned room.

A New York Blizzard ... Again

This is my fourth winter in New York City, and it has been the worst by far.

Paul and I missed the mother of all snowstorms on December 26, but the remnants remained on the ground when we returned from Ohio in January. They haven't left; they've only been added to.

The latest blizzard (and yes, it seems like we've gotten only blizzards and never just regular old snow) arrived Wednesday morning and continued off and on until early Thursday. When I walked home from the subway Wednesday evening, I even got pummeled with kosher salt-sized hail. By the time I woke up Thursday morning, the accumulation equaled 19 inches.

Someone got up early to clear off this sidewalk by 9 a.m.!

Paul didn't drive to work, of course -- not only were the roads in terrible condition, but a lot of the automobiles in the neighborhood were so completely covered that it looked as if the streets were lined with snowcars instead of snowmen. Only about half of the sidewalks were clear, and I frequently had to step into piles of snow just as high as my tall rubber boots.

The "fun" isn't over. More snow is predicted for today and Saturday. In addition, several inches of snow are piled atop the tree branches, and Paul has already been smacked in the head once by a cold, wet fluff of snow.

Spring is much too far away.

Paul draws a happy face on the front of a car.