snow!

I figure it's only my sixth real winter ever, and so it's okay for me to act and feel like a six year old when it comes to the snow. Though it's nearing the end of February, it's been a mild winter, and until last week, I didn't have the pleasure of experiencing any real snow. So you can imagine the excitement I felt when, peering out my window, my sights were filled with a world of soft white.

Growing up, my dad would sometimes travel on business to cold climate places, most often to New York, and usually upon his return, he would bestow upon me and my brother some little gift. One particular time while my dad was in New York, I remember he asked if there was anything in particular that I wanted him to bring back for me. I begged him to bring back snow for me, and I'm sure this is not the first time I ever asked this from him. I guess, because I knew that New York is cold in the winter, I assumed there would be snow and decided that my dad bring should be able to bring some back. He tried to reason with me, to explain that there isn't any good way to transport snow from New York to San Diego, but I thought that if he got one of those ice chests that the seafood places in New Orleans used to package the crawfish and crab we would bring back from family vacations, the snow would be just fine in its travel from coast to coast. For all I know, there may not have been any snow at all, but I refused to give up on this request and continued to pester my dad each night when he called home.

When my dad returned from his business trip, he didn't have an ice chest with him, but he opened up his luggage and pulled out a snow globe--a little heart shape filled with tiny snow covered skyscrapers and snow covered streets. Even though I couldn't make my own snowball out of it, the effort my dad had made almost made up for that.

So as I headed out the door, bundled up against the wintry weather, I prepared myself for the walk to the subway, and pressed play on my Ipod. Within my playlist of newly downloaded songs, the first song to randomly come on was "Walk In the Park" by Oh No! Oh My!, possibly the most ironic and perfect song that I could have possibly listened to first thing that morning. While most people in New York seem to consider the snow to be pretty from the inside and otherwise an awful pain, I, as previously established, love the snow inside and out. Granted it can make the walk to the subway a bit tougher, but in general, I find it to be quite exciting.

The song begins with a nice little intro that could be the soundtrack to some 1980's children's TV program--it is sweet and pretty. The first words heard from lead singer Greg Barkley are, "Nice day for a walk in the park. Nice day for a drive through the city. This world is a warm, sunny park. Ba ba ba bada bada….." There is a sunny pleasantness to the song. Since I imagine this song is about a the kind of beautiful spring day where it would literally be a crime not to leave the house, upon entering out into the storm, it seemed entirely ironic. But then I felt a bit of truth to the song. It was freezing, but veiled with snow, the streets looked beautiful. And I couldn't wait until I had time to go for a walk in the park.