New York Daily Photo Analytics

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

In Like a Lion

How ironic. Just two days ago (March 1st), I took a photo of a very unique pink stucco building at 114 Waverly Street which was still sporting a Christmas wreath - see photo here. My intention was to illustrate how people can be so out of step with the time. It seemed particularly strange when temperatures had risen to 61 degrees on Friday and many were strolling the streets in shirt sleeves and shorts. Yet one day later, feeling as we did that the worst was over, NYC was hit with a snowstorm of several inches (and a low today of 12 degrees F). The neighborhood was blanketed in white and yesterday I found icicles over 12" long hanging outside my window. So much for early spring fever.

But this is old news for people in northern USA - prone to irregularity in climate. I wrote of an old friend's view of contrasts between west coast and east coast - see Weather Means Whether.
But New Yorkers adapt very quickly - as easily as summer sandals and shorts are brought out in February, coats and scarves are ready for March's last blast. So this year it looks like the old adage will apply - "If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb."

Note: the expression has its origins with the constellations Leo, the lion, and Aries, the ram or lamb, and their relative positions in the sky at the beginning and end of the month. On March 1 the constellation Leo, the lion, is rising in the eastern evening sky (“in like a lion.") On March 31, the constellation Aries, the ram, or lamb, sets in the western evening sky (out like a lamb).

9 comments:

Mountainboy said...

Great photo. I love snow, I love B&W images - so what is not to like here!

I notice in your list of blogs you have my old one listed in Taunton, but not the new one in Weston-super-Mare.

Lorelai said...

This is a fantastic picture! I am currently living in "exile" in California so this picture brings a wave of nostalgia, memories of growing up in New England. Thank you Brian!! I miss it!

Ineke said...

Great shot!

Anonymous said...

I looked at this several times trying to work out if it was in Black and White or whether it was just natural colours. Still not sure!

lemon said...

Great, great photo!!

Anonymous said...

Used to live in NYC, now in LA.

There are so few contrasts in the weather out here. It gets very boring.

Thanks for the source of the old adage. Great photo - of course - but also enjoy your writing just as much.

Lowell said...

Beautiful image, but you can keep the snow and the ice and the slush! Having lived in the north, I figure you are pretty tired of it all by now.

Thérèse said...

Brrrr! But the picture and the explanation made my day.

hmstrjam said...

love that photo! i must have walked by that pink house a hundred times- once seeing this crazy lady in her underwear come to the door...