snowday

Today was the first snowfall in Manhattan. Most people think that snow is pretty and festive, at least until Christmas. I have never thought this. Being in the snow in the city means stepping in mysterious gray piles, that may actually turn out to be two-feet-deep freezing puddles, and developing knots in your back because you can't unclench your freezing muscles. Also, it seems my skin has developed an allergy to cold air in recent years, so the snow actually gives me hives. According to DrGreene.com, I am not alone in this condition.

"Some people develop hives on the skin when they encounter cold temperatures. This condition, called cold urticaria, is the most common type of hives caused by a physical condition. The hives are produced by a rapid release of histamine brought about by IgE antibodies and eosinophils (a type of white blood cell often involved in allergic reactions) in response to the cold. Rapid cooling, as from the evaporation when one gets out of a swimming pool, can trigger cold urticaria even on a warm day. For people with cold urticaria, swimming in very cold water is quite dangerous, sometimes even causing death."

Interesting. I will be sure to avoid diving in the arctic from now on.

But today, I welcomed the cold! Sometimes, when a lot of things happen in not a lot of time, I can't figure out whats going on, how I feel, or what to do next. I need to process things in pieces. I dissect all details, and the but-what-abouts and the maybe-sos until my ability to make decisions is replaced by a heavy, gray fog matter. But when you wake up to a world that is different than the one you fell asleep in the night before, you are granted a gracious helping of perspective. And if thats not enough, the cold will certainly slap you hard in the face an knock some of the gray out of your brain.