Miss Manhattan Takes A Holiday, Part II: The Return

In case you didn’t know, there’s a whole lot of sunshine and warmth in South Florida. So when I left chilly Manhattan, my first goal was to procure the best souvenir possible from a warm climate, the tan. There were many days where I woke up, put on my bathing suit and walked outside to immerse myself in sun worship (falling asleep on a lounge chair).

All the while, in New York a massive blizzard swept through, covering the city in blankets of white, shutting down transportation and confining people to their homes. Garbage bags piled up on the streets because they were covered in snow and the garbage men couldn’t get to them (many of them are still there).

I sat in the sun some more. As clouds rolled in and the sun drifted off, I went inside and sat around in my bathing suit and a sweater until…well, until I didn’t want to anymore.  When I’m in New York, these are the things I miss about home. The rides up the beach road, A1A, with the windows down and sea salt rushing through my hair; the sun setting just a little bit later than it does in New York; going to the beach in the winter; sunsets that turn the sky creamsicle orange and lavender.

But then last Monday I caught a flight home in the evening, not before going to the beach all that day, turning just that much darker than I was before, and rubbing saltwater in my hair for that divine smell and volumizing effect no hair product has yet been able to successfully duplicate.

I was greeted in New York by piles of snow on the sides of the roads and curbs blizzard remnants that have (as of today, over a week later) still not dissipated. Dry, icy wind covered my wrists. Was it possible that I was just on the beach that same day?

But now I have fully re-immersed myself into the cold. This past Friday snow fell in huge but light flakes for hours, making me feel like I was underneath Mother Nature’s flour sifter. The snow rested neatly atop cars and water iced onto curbs, but I didn’t mind. I’ve decided I like the cold because it makes me feel alive, or rather more alive since New York runs so deeply in my veins now anyway.