This morning, sidewalks were encased in ice. As I approached my subway, which you have to go downhill then uphill to access, I saw an Asian grandpa with his 12 year old grandson clinging to a fence. The boy had cute sneakers on with no tread I assume, for he slowly began to slide away from his grandpa, completely upright, toward me. I caught him in both my arms, and then we both began to slowly slide away together, til another commuter yelled “walk on the snow!†Duh, oh yeah. It snapped me out of my floating away and got me back on track. I ran into a neighbor on the subway who said she got to the station by forming a human chain. It’s the type of weather to bring people together.
Reminds me of a time when when I was kid in Brooklyn eons ago, also in winter and icy conditions, how my mom had to hug me so I wouldn’t wipe out as we skated down the street. It seemed so impossible to get through without her help, her strong grip.