Growing up in Virginia, the transition through seasons was so gradual and organic that the change was nearly unperceivable. One day you look down and wonder when you started wearing mittens or zipping your jacket up all the way. You make tiny adjustments every day, inadvertently flowing with the passage of time, until you don’t even recognize the you of last season.
once desolate, the Brooklyn Promenade is now teeming with people
Like everything else in New York, seasons here are a bit more dramatic. Perhaps it was our first night with the air condition window unit on, but I felt a definite shift in my world today, as if the wind changed direction and my sails are now set on a different course entirely. The weather is part of it- that’s inescapable. When you spend a huge percentage of your day outside, you react to the temperature in an almost primal way. If it’s hot, you’re hot. When it’s cold, you’re cold. (That sounded a lot more poignant in my head) Central air, toasty car seats…..these things no longer exist in my world. But this change is more than a number on the thermostat; it’s an electricity in the air.
a summer haze engulfs lady liberty
Just when you finally start to adjust to a daily routine, the rug is pulled out from under you and life gets a nice shake-up. I felt it from the moment I opened my eyes this morning, but there have been clues all around me. Stumbling groggily to the kitchen to put the teakettle on, I looked up to see an older man sweeping his back porch directly out my window and became painfully aware of my open bathrobe and lack of proper coverage. 6 months ago, my solitary walk to work included a 25 minute trudge through snow before the sun rose, during which I’d be lucky if I passed 5 people. These days, the streets are alive with activity in the early mornings: a man rides by on a bicycle with an extra long seat, two tiny girls in pink backpacks clinging to to his back; children color with chalk right outside my building while their mother sips coffee from her brownstone’s stoop; a couple jog down the center of street while a dog barks from a 4th floor window. And all before 8am. I now join the flow of foot traffic from my front door and ride the wave all the way to work. Today, I found myself walking at an identical clip as a young woman and older man. Together, we crossed streets and turned corners. I never saw their faces, only their legs as we navigated the sidewalk side by side, but when I neared my destination and broke off, I looked back, wanting to wave goodbye or somehow acknowledge this small sense of camaraderie among strangers that only exists in big cities.
I’ve likened New York winters to child-birth, a preposterous analogy considering I’ve never experienced it myself. But from what I gather, all the pain and suffering is immediately forgotten the moment you lay your eyes on your child. Spring in Brooklyn can instantly wash away all memory of the dark and dreary days of winter, convincing you to stick around another year. But summer….ahhh sweet summer. In a city with so much ambition and energy, the summers here are like recess. You want to tear from the front door with arms waving, shrieking and dancing and laughing. Daily happy hours are encouraged. Most businesses offer “summer Fridays” so one can escape the city, but I’ve always loved sticking around when cafes open their patios and flip-flops and a sundress become accepted attire everywhere.
the gazillion babies in this borough finally have their own place to chill at the newly opened Brooklyn Bridge Park
Obviously summer didn’t arrive overnight, but it certainly feels that way. Like the time my local grocery store grew in the blink of an eye. One day I walked in, took a right at the produce and a left at the baker to meet with the seafood guy. The very next day I followed the same route past the produce and the baker, turned to my left expecting to see a frosted display of tuna and scallops and instead saw that the entire wall had been removed and the store was now twice its size. Through the opening I saw shoppers pushing their carts down the aisles as if they had been there all along. In 24 hours, everything had changed and I was the only one left scratching my head and scurrying to keep up.
long gone are the sledding slopes at Brooklyn Heights' Hillside Dogpark
There is a buzz on the streets, an excitement in the air, and the sweet melodic hum of the AC from my window. Life is good.
and I cannot get this song out of my head…
After writing this post, I was inspired to whip up my favorite summer pasta dish. Check it check it: http://favoriterecipes2011.blogspot.com/2011/05/summer-pasta.html