45 Comments

I love snow! Exactly that crunching sound and the feeling that goes with it when walking over it that you recorded in the little video...

One of my favourite things to do is just walk through the snow. And then afterwards, in the evening once it's really dark go inside and cosy up with tea and candles...

It's quite a nostalgic thing whenever there is snow because there really was more of it when I was little (I'm German and grew up in the South... we used to have quite a bit of snow most winters then. Quite different now!) Also lots of snow usually meant a chance to go ice skating later on for us - once it all melts the river would flood and then once it was cold enough those flooded areas would freeze, that happened quite a lot when I was a kid :-)

So I live in the UK now and there is generally not a lot of snow here or nothing at all - I really miss that. As soon as it snows there is usually a little panic here.... ;-) (People are not used to it.)

Last November there suddenly was tons of snow in Germany - a bit like what you had in New York in 2021 I think! I missed it - I got to go over in December - it was a very wet and warm Christmas!!

Anyway, I love this post! The writing is beautiful, and the photos and little videos really make you feel like you're there and it's snowy outside right now... Also - I loved reading the background story from the roses photo!

Expand full comment

Happy February dear Jesse, I love snow so so much. In the place where I spent my childhood there was always plenty of snow in February. We built caves and castles out of snow and were outside all day. Where I live now, snow is rare. But two weeks ago I was able to ski and sled right behind the house. All the people were very happy, just like you saw in New York. Thanks for the fun photos and video of the snowball fight.

Expand full comment

Enjoyed this ❄️

Expand full comment

Whenever there is a heavy snow I feel as though the world has slowed to my pace, it’s the most extraordinary relief. I wish I’d been in NYC that Winter ❄️🤍

Expand full comment

Hello Jesse,

I found your SS after reading about it in your mum's effusively loving recommendation.

If you are travelling with her to the Dublin gig this Spring I'd love to host you on a visit to Oscar Wilde's home and The Book of Kells in Trinity College. Two of the most evocative and inspiring places for the creative soul.

Expand full comment

I noticed that New York generally gets snow a day or two before us here in Liverpool UK, I know we also get snow from the East, but have been following this pattern for many years, and if I hear of snow in NY I get excited thinking we might get some. Its all so lovely crisp and white and still and I agree appears to make people playful and happy, and when others moan of commercial inconvenience I delight in wonder. Well done for giving your self roses, and thank you for the story behind this page in 'A book of Days' which I read daily last year, I know I didn't finish it, but not where it is now, must ask Antony!!! I actually have The 'Year of The Monkey' on my shelf waiting to be read.

Expand full comment

Beautiful writing about snow. We had a snow and ice storm a few weeks ago here in Oregon. Isn’t it amazing to realize that each snowflake is unique and beautiful? This morning we have blue skies and a Bald Eagle was soaring overhead. I hope that brings everyone good energy!

Expand full comment

Magical! X

Expand full comment

Thank you Jesse for the magical photos and lovely snow writing! I used to dislike snow and now when I have come to like it we do not have it anymore. At least not in such quantity. We used to have very snowy winters in the north of England but sadly this is not the case anymore, well not in the city at least.

I love the magic of falling snowflakes especially in the night in the warm light of street lamps while I'm snuggled under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. However a morning walk in a still fresh, undisturbed layer of fluffy whiteness is also great.

I wish I still could enjoy that some day...

Expand full comment

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost’s - “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Expand full comment

So lovely Jesse to see your pictures/videos of a snowy/happy day in NYC, the way you write … I could almost feel the cold on my face! ❄️ Everything feels calm when it snows, it brings out the playfulness in people and animals too! I liked the poems, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is one of my favourite books. Haworth where the Brontes lived is a beautiful place, I’ve visited many times, I imagine it would have been something to see in the snow when Emily was alive, what fun the family would have had with snowball fights ⛄️

Expand full comment

I love this! I was born and lived the first 21 years of my life in Iowa, so I remember snowstorms well. In late April one year when I was in junior high, I believe (this would’ve been in the 1970’s) we had a freakish late winter blizzard and had something like 23 inches of heavy, wet snow. My dad was stuck in Chicago as no planes were flying. So my mom and I decided to head to the grocery to “stock up,” and got stuck on a side street, left our Chevy paneled station wagon stranded, and walked the two miles home in the heavy snow--alternating dancing and making snow angels and daring each other to run down the middle of the roads--as there were NO cars. It was quiet and still and stunningly white and beautiful. I remember laughing and laughing and being thrilled we wouldn’t have school the next day and would get to eat tuna noodle casserole that night for dinner since my dad wouldn’t be there. (He loathed tuna noodle casserole.) One of my fondest memories of my mom and I from my childhood years. Somewhere, there are SLIDES in a little cardboard box documenting the storm. 🧡

Expand full comment

What a wonderfully nostalgic and vivid story!

Expand full comment

I absolutely love this post. So well written and descriptive. It just captures that day perfectly - a day that I honestly cannot remember...but through this I can feel it absolutely.

Expand full comment

I love snow! This was beautiful!

Expand full comment

We moved from Philadelphia area to northern Maine three years ago and since that time winter has become my favorite season. There is something so comforting and quiet, inspiring and slow about the winter here. Piles of snow, warm fires and lots of creativity to be uncovered. Happy February 🌟

Expand full comment