Last week they forecasted a major snow storm in the Northeast. As it approached, New Yorkers whipped themselves into a frenzy. First Governor Cuomo closed three major inter state highways. Next our novice mayor marshaled legions of plows and salt trucks to combat the onslaught. Finally, after six inches of snow had fallen, the Governor declared a state of emergency. The next morning the sun was shining before noon.
This happened concurrent with our return from Montana. The dichotomy of reactions to weather was quite amusing. After awakening to at least eight inches of snow, we drove one hundred plus miles across icy, snow covered roads to the airport. Like pioneers we put the Jeep into four wheel drive and hit the road. For us this was a fairly normal, non event.
Back in Manhattan, we couldn't help but think "what's the big deal?" Back home our wide open spaces that can easily accommodate accumulation. Whereas almost every inch of Manhattan is covered by concrete and steel. Therefore the snow has nowhere to go. The result is mounds of the white stuff that has to be removed to somewhere else. This process can take days and certainly slows things down
Given what's going on in most
the country, it's cold out there!
Chicago, Minneapolis, and even
Atlanta are breaking low temp
records due to a blast of north
pole frigidity. It's amazing what
people can survive. The occasional
deep freeze is not new. Lewistown
hit minus forty six in 1920. So
please help me understand why
Manhattan is paralyzed when the
mercury hits ten above?! Are we
fools who can't weather a storm?
While the thermometer frequently
reads warmer in Manhattan, it feels
colder than Montana. The humidity
here creates a damp, bone numbing
frigidity that is much worse than what
minus ten degrees in Lewistown feels
like. That combined with the fact that
most of us have to walk everywhere
in Manhattan gives credence to local
angst during the winter months.
While we jaded Montanans may
giggle at the antics of our urban
neighbors, what may be ordinary
elsewhere can be extraordinary
here in the Big Apple. Any well
oiled machine can breakdown if
the elements push it's resources
to the extreme. Therefore a bit
of caution may be prudent. Why
gamble? Isn't it better to appear
to be a fool rather than risk the
chance of millions being stuck
out in the cold? CHILL OUT!
