A February Afternoon

Posted on

by Arundhati Basu

My face is tingling and my fingers which have been throbbing because I kept them long enough outside the pockets to click a few images of the Hudson, frozen in parts, is thawing and humming alongside. I am still shivering though my nose is telling me that it is relieved to be back inside again, breathing the warm cosiness that is home.

I have been feeling strangely out of sorts for some time now. Ennui sounds immeasurably better than it feels. Who knows why I have been feeling this way but I shall tell you now that the icy winds by the Hudson whip them right out of the body. Everything just comes together out there, you know. The race tracks which are empty but for the gaggle of geese collecting at one end as if priming themselves up for a race, the old man in his signature yellow sweatshirt who inspires me with his tenacity to run outside in the bitter cold, the slabs of ice on the Hudson, the boulders all iced up that glisten in the soft-as-feather rays of the afternoon sun, the stray branches coated with icicles that sitting upon the boulders, the skein of ducks who bury their necks deep into their plump bodies so that you just see orbs of brown and white bobbing upon the waves, spiky hundreds of brown sweet gum balls gathering by the sides of the trails running through the park. Every bit counts.

Published by

Arundhati Basu

The great affair in my life is to travel. I count myself immensely fortunate that my partner shares this passion. We are a team that likes to spend time planning and plotting out places to go. Destination check, flights check, accommodation check, cheesy grins check. Off we go.

66 thoughts on “A February Afternoon”

  5. I could feel the cold. I don’t do too well in cold weather. It makes me stay indoors because I don’t like the chills. Thank you for the photos and thank you for letting your fingers freeze to take the shots!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, it’s true. I should let the cold stop me from doing things such as walking in the cold. Once I get going, I usually feel okay and I should remember that! 🙂 xox

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Oh DD … ennui is such a deceptive mistress – her name so close to esprit that one might be forgiven for stepping close to her and when we do she descends like a dark muffler and is the very devil to cast off. The cold where you now live has to be experienced to be believed. I spent the winters (remember I’m a snowbird) in New England literally gasping for relief, psyching myself for forays out of doors and wondering if the locals were actually in any way related to me as a human. And then out of nowhere comes the briefest Spring which in turn gives way to melting heat. And I’m about to do it all again …. save me some hot choc and pastry and I’ll bring you warm hugs from the Alps which is frankly balmy in comparison xx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I don’t know how anyone in New England lives. I can excuse the first settlers for coming there (I assume it was spring time and they had no clue what was in store), but those who stayed once they knew what the winters were about? Pure crazy folk, haha.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I have to be gagged when there because I am fond of saying that the pilgrim fathers were outcasts who were vilified in their own lands and that if they hadn’t been desperate they never would have settled in New England ?

        Liked by 2 people

      4. Hah well put! Maybe I should venture to New England to see what all this madness is about. But if I lived in say a lovely little town in Vermont, I believe I could withstand the bite of the winters.

        Like

    2. And you are back 🙂 *hugs for just that.
      Why you gave ennui a personality! Deceptive mistress. Disarming. I shall have to cast her off with vehemence I think or she will pack a nasty punch.
      I think you have braved more painful winters than I then, Osyth. I got a whiff of the New England cold even before the onset of winter. I dread the thought of its bite. You know I am already dreading the melting heat. I shall save you all the goodies in the world!
      The Alps sound dreamy always. Sigh.
      But now come over to the other side *evil guffaw. xx

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Only two more months of Alps and believe me Madame Ennui will be making a bid for residence of my heart. We will work on her together dear DD xx

        Liked by 1 person

  11. I loved when you said that ennui sounds better than it feels. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in that degree of cold. I’ve never seen a body of water frozen over, but it does have its own charm. Seeing the ice crystals hanging from branches and sunlight glittering the ground is a special beauty. I remember a few years ago, on a snowboarding trip to Colorado, there had been a fresh snowfall the night before and I just felt captivated by how pretty everything was.

    Maybe read a little Charles Baudelaire “Ennui”. That may feed your anxious soul. xo

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I shall look up Baudelaire for I confess I have not read him at all. For now, I am reading the Bhagavad Gita to see what it is all about.
      Anything French gets me you see and the word ennui fascinates me in keeping with that thought. But the feelings associated it with, darn it, I could do without it.
      I am enamoured of cold too. Snow, ice crystals, frost… they make me think of a fairytale unless I find myself slipping on black ice 🙂 A snowboarding trip to Colorado sounds heavenly Lyz. Would love to read about it. xx

      Like

      1. Oh, you’ll love Baudelaire. His language is gorgeous, and he was a French. I do love the word as well. Such a pretty word for an unwelcomed feeling. Ennui is in his collection, Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil). I don’t know Bhagavad Gita. What style of writing is it?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yeah heard of Baudelaire always in reference to the classical greats. I shall look up Les Fleurs du Mal. As for Bhagavad Gita, it is an episode from an epic poem called the Mahabharata. I keep reading about interviews of authors who cite the Gita as a part of their must reads — and I figured why not delve into my own Sanskrit roots. xx

        Liked by 1 person

      3. That sounds like you’ve had a brilliant idea. You’ve been hearing authors talk about it and it’s a part of your roots. I must say, you’ve remaindered me of just how little reading I’ve done of my own culture.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. It is incredible how such frigid conditions can create such visual beauty. Your words evoke both polarities. What excellent photos – the one with the icicles hanging off the fallen branch really captured the chilled tingly throbbing sensations you described. I hope you had a hot beverage after coming back inside! -Lex

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Yes getting out in the ‘fresh’ air has to help with the ennui. I’m on a coffee break from a bracing walk along the sea front and it’s raised my spirits. Also think of the pleasure you’re excellent writing is bringing to your readers. Nothing is pointless ☺️

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I bet it was bracing going by how blustery a walk by the sea would be. But coffee and fresh air, ah it is heavenly.
      Thank you for the words and the quick reminder that it is all okay 🙂 I have stopped whinging and picked myself up. Hope you have a productive week. Cheers.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. Oh! You captured that brown-sense of winter landscape that I saw when I was visiting Boston back in January. Out here we have green all winter, with evergreen firs, and even the grass, since it doesn’t get cold enough to turn the grass brown. I wonder if you are missing your beloved Cornwall? Is it a bit warmer there than in NJ?

    – Oh, and I have to tell you, I’m still running, I just got back to progressing in time after having knee aches that prompted me to drop my time a little until the knees became stronger. So fun to hear about your running, too! Makes me feel more connected. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I can imagine how green it is at your end
      (which is why I love the presence of evergreens). The balance that is achieved between the fact that there can be trees bereft of leaves and others that can retain all theirs — nature is truly remarkable. As you observe it is quite brown and bleak here as if the grass and trees are all waiting for this spell to pass. It would be warmer in Cornwall than NJ at times but the gusts that travel the length and breadth of it even during summer can send chills down your spine 🙂
      I am proud of you for continuing your runs, Theresa. I have been a big wuss since I got back from India and have been unable to brave the freezing winds by the Hudson. Instead I have taken to running and working out indoors. Just that one day when I get out for a run should make it fall in place 🙂

      Like

Leave a comment