Let me tell you one thing, the ice-cold wintry weather
    of New York City is a type of cold like nothing I've
    ever felt before in my lifetime
The chilly cold winds of New York City wrap around your
    mortal being like a second skin so tight that it takes
    at least a 15 minute reprieve to feel the warmth's
    embrace of the heated indoors
The outdoor's cold makes my shoulders feel like they're
    going to rise above the top of my head and makes
    my back feel stiffer than a steel rod
I wonder how they do it in climates colder than this,
    like in Montreal, where they have underground tunnels
    to walk in to protect them during their freezing
    cold polar Winters
This cold has made me a sun worshipper like back in
    the days of the Egyptians worshipping Ra
    It also makes me pray to the Great Mother Goddess
    of Winter to help get me through this sometimes
    sub-zero weather with my bodies contents fully intact
    and my mind's thoughts as close to zen in being as possible

I do swear this every year to all that exists, right
    before the chilling cold weather lands right in the
    center of my life that this is the last nippy winter
    that I'll make myself live through here
         Because it feels like a punishment for doing something
         wrong, like as a child when I was put in a corner and
         had to stand there with one foot up in the air
         for at least 20 minutes or even worse, get grounded
         for a two week spell in our house and not be able to
         see my good friends outside the realms of of school's time
I do often say to myself during this time, I'm moving back
    to California, the land of sunshine smiles that's filled
    with laughter's warmth
Or I'm going to vacation in a place like Aruba
    Where the sun shines 365 days a year
    Where the cool balmy breezes gently blow
    Where it never gets too unbearably hot or
        too forbiddingly cold
    Where the sun shines down on us with nothing but warm
        love and holds us in heated embraces
    (at least that's what the say in a travel commercial that
     I hear on my favorite classical radio station only during
     the Winter when I'm sitting inside, wrapped in my
     comforters protecting myself from outsides arctic
     cold weather)
Or, I'll go to Adel's for a few months, a rainforest resort
    that's located in Guyana, cause you know, I've had a yen
    to see a rainforest first hand for a while now, but to
    live in one for a short span of time, why that would be
    a dream come true, and here it would be cheaper because
    I could do work exchange for my room and board
These are my drifting thoughts of warmer climates that get me
    through these frigid cold winter days

When it gets to the night I do okay, because I've got
    my 2 comforters plus 1 blanket covering me from
    head to toe, that surely do protect me from those icy
    cold drafts that sneak into my room during the night like an
    uninvited guest
    But something tells me that this winter I'll be needing
    about 3 more comforters than usual to cover myself with,
    because this winter the evils of cold are going to be
    even colder than the winter nights I've met in my years
    of winter's past here, because those nights were filled
    with global warming's mixed blessings of warmth's
    seasonal mess-ups

Every year though, these thoughts come and go
    Playing my mind like a yo-yo - up & down, up & down
    Making it feel like it's on a sit and spin
    - round and round
By the time the Spring comes though, and the sun shows
    it's glorious face and kisses our bodies with
    sunshine's warmth,
    I get that warm feeling again of how much I enjoy
    living here
Well the Summer, with all the cheap and free outdoor events of
    dance, theatre, music and whatnot
    Plus going to the beaches of near and far and reveling in
    the sun and sand (what other place can you get in abundance
    the four elements at your feet - earth as sand, water
    as ocean, sun as fire, and the air as what you breathe)
    I absolutely fall in love with living here
    all over again
The most elemental thing though that keeps me here,
is the friendships that I've developed over time
    Yep, that's why I mainly stay, is because of the
    wonderful love-filled people that I've met here,
    because without them this city would be a cold
    lonely place to live in
    Like living in a home where love does not dwell


by savvy-11/20/2000...

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