blonde moments of genius: Closing in on 1000

According to Blogger metrics, as of 1:45 p.m. today I am at 987 views in total for this blog. Pretty soon I will hit 1000 views -- and yet ZERO comments!

Come on, people. Get excited! Do I really need to finish each entry with "So what is your opinion? What do you think about blah-de-blah-blah?" I assumed that since comments are available to give then it was understood that comments are welcome and desired, but perhaps I assumed too much. A note to those who are less familiar with the Blogger-sphere: you do not have to use your name when leaving comments if you so wish (e.g. I could use Bucky instead of my real name), and the email it requests for response sake does is not posted (only the administrator -- me -- sees your email).

I have said my part. Moving on...

According to Weather.com today for uptown NYC:

6:30 a.m. (waking up): 16 degrees, wind chill 0 degrees.
9:15 a.m. (start of my run): 17 degrees, wind chill 1 degree.
11:45 a.m. (after my run): 19 degrees, wind chill 6 degrees.

Winter has finally (!!) arrived.

I've been running consistently for the last two years. For two or three yeas prior to that I stopped running, for both my mind and my knee's sake, and I always felt like I somehow missed winter. I commuted through the cold and muck each day unless limited by ankle deep snow, but it wasn't the same. The magic little bubble you create around yourself, the cold air in your lungs, the quiet on the roads and the calm shared by you and the few other winter participants you come across.... It is wonderful. Give me black ice and I am, admittedly, swearing up a storm and cursing the world, but that is unique to ice and just coincidentally occurs during winter. Anyways, it was nice.

I went through my photos from 2011 and pulled out the small handful for which I particularly like the results, regardless of whether I tried for those results or whether I just got lucky. One photo is reposted from before. The pool of photos was smaller than I wish, a factor of the attention required by school mixed with the decreasing interest for the city. I'm looking forward to the rest of this winter and spring for the transitions that will take place and, hopefully, for the reclamation of such hobbies.