I wasn't sure how Pip and I were going to go on a walk the morning after the blizzard. The streets were full of snow many inches deep. However, people were out clearing the snow and it seemed the place was pretty well prepared with each building having its own little motorised snow clearer (something akin to a lawnmover). There was a narrow path on our route so we managed to complete the circuit.
All of Harriet's toys are being shipped by sea so we don't have very much for her. We decided a top priority was to get to a toy store and find something so we set out. We took the subway for the first time (folding the pram to get through the gates). The platform was packed and the announcements told a tale of woe that is familiar to any London tube user with lines cancelled and long delays promised. Still, the E train eventually showed up and we headed across town and south to Penn station.
When we arrived above ground it was as cold as anything I have ever experienced. The wind smashed repeatedly into us and every extremity felt the chill. We struggled down one block to the Toys-R-Us on 7th Avenue and dived in desperate for shelter. My fingers, previously chilled, now were aflame as they started to thaw out.
We have bought another child carrier because it is probably the only way J can use the subway by himself. The very good one we have will be heading out by sea but is no use to us now. We bought Harriet a colourful vacuum cleaner that was just perfect for her and picked out a few more toys that would have to wait for another day when we had more hands free. We headed home exhausted.
We finally got boots in the afternoon and were congratulated by the shop assistants for getting the last ones in the shop. It felt brilliant to leave the shop with the new footwear on and we could now easily climb the mounds of snow and wade through the slush with abandon. The biggest problem with the snow now is that it has been moved to the edge of the roads and so it is not always easy for pedestrians to cross. But that is no problem for those with landrover shoes.
The following day we went to Central Park. All of us are now equipped with snow boots and could stomp around safely. The snow is being shifted in the most remarkable fashion - on second avenue JCBs are scooping it up and piling it into trucks. The news still looks like home though - people in areas complaining that the ploughs ignored their boroughs and passengers with tales of woe including one poor sod who had got stuck in London and then got stuck in JFK for his onward flight to the Bahamas.
Gradually this is all becoming more normal.
