THE CITY LATELY

The city's been awfully pretty lately. In that dingy, wintry, murky, grayscale kind of pretty. You have to sort of look for it. But you know what, I like the city in the winter. I really do. I like the cozy heat inside the cafés, the faces buried into snoods and scarves, the cheerfulness of the dudes at the Union Square Greenmarket who you know are suffering interminably or else they must have skin made of steel . . . We all complain about the cold and come up with excuses to stay indoors, but you know what, I think the winter can be rather beautiful. If you're crazy.  

Luckily, psychiatrists have agreed that I am. 

(Just kidding.)

Some of the city lately . . . 

//THE LOWER EAST

1. Eggs and pickled carrots for brunch / 

2&3. Little Italy still has their Christmas on / 

4. A rainy intersection on a terribly drizzly day /

// THE WEST VILLAGE

1. Colonial architecture / 

2. Coffee shops where you can sit all day and get work done like a proper person / 

3&4. Shop windows where you'll find all sorts of things / 

5. The Corner Bistro / 

6&7. A favorite stretch of 8th Avenue  / 

8. A bit of ivy still hanging on / 

9. The arch by twilight /

//THE HOOD

(By which I mean my hood, not the hood.)

1. Back into the swing of things with a mountain of dry cleaning /

2. And a bit of taxidermy at a local tattoo shop /

//THE END//