I do not know which to prefer... It has begun to rain in New York City. It is not quite spring, so the rain is cold and mostly unpleasant, though it is a somewhat welcome change from the unrelenting grey skies of freezing winter. It has not had the awakening effect of spring though. Without warmth one recoils.
I would not say that all of winter is bad. There are days of beautiful clarity: uncluttered blue skies, crisp and open, clean and somehow refreshing. I took the picture above during one of those days as I was walking to work in the East Village.
I am eagerly awaiting spring this year, looking for it, or the hints of it, in everything around me. It is there in the cold rain but only as a passing shadow of itself, something not glimpsed but felt through the understanding of its coming, faith in the turning world, hurling through space, tilting at windmills and winds alike.
"the blackbird whistling or just after"...
