Okay, first off, if you see my name as that of the thread originator that means there's an excellent chance the thread is about...
...and so we will now pause while everyone clicks the back button in order to go find a thread about some place they've heard of and care about. To the four of you who remain, and especially to the one person who is thinking of commenting but who ultimately won't, thank you very, very much for staying and looking around.
And now, let me set the stage. We've gotten an awful lot of snow this year in Western North Carolina. Twice we've received over a foot of snow, in storms that effectively shut the city down and sealed people in their homes. I wanted to head downtown to get some pictures of these snows, but it just wasn't doable. I'm a North Carolinian, you see, and although we get snow every year here, I'm just not as adept at driving in the mess as you Northerners would be. Thus during the past two snows, I sat at home and cursed the dying of the light, so to speak.
Enter our last snow. Compared to two foot-deep snowfalls, it was minor. Only about four inches or so. The roads were still messy, but I was not going to be denied a third time! I had to find a solution, and I searched my apartment for a way to get downtown that would not involve me personally driving there.
Fortunately, I found a Korean-American in the basement. Originally from New York, he's well versed in navigating through slush. He agreed to drive all three of us apartment-dwellers -- himself, his girlfriend (originally from New Jersey), and myself to downtown
Asheville so we could bring you these cold photographs.
A round of applause for the Korean.
New York and New Jersey, together again.
Note the two-wheeled conveyance. There will be others, variations on a theme, featured later in this thread.
Yes, that is exactly what it looks like.
This is also exactly what it looks like.
I'm sure she thought I was a tourist. Tourists love photos of the locals going about their daily business, even when one's daily business involves shoveling snow in front of the art museum.
They're adorable.
Note the two-wheeled conveyance. More remains.
A forlorn glove lay forgotten in Pack Square Park.
A medical helicopter passed overhead.
Your photographer in a frivolous pose.
A beady-eyed topiary menace lurked outside the entrance to L.O.F.T., where we took shelter to warm up. Among the many fascinating things sold here you will find old-fashioned candies, soaps, antiques of all description, and wooden penises.
Koreans on ice!
Just plain ice...
A New Jerseyan surveys a water heater.
Note that this is the last representative of the two-wheeled conveyance to be featured in this thread. There is no need to search for more.
At this point we had to get warm again, and so we headed inside the Battery Park Book Exchange, a combination used bookstore and champagne bar. At the bar, a couple were eating cheese that smelled like dead fish, but only after first smearing it daintily on crackers.
I pose, looking thoughtful.
The Korean poses, also looking thoughtful.
The New Jerseyan poses, not looking thoughtful, next to a portrait of what appears to be a man in a dress. Seriously. The person in the portrait has
man hands. That's why the New Jerseyan appears to be slightly freaked out.
Inspired by the people eating the dead fish cheese, we decided that life would just not be complete without a couple pounds of exotic cheese to call our very own. Thus, we headed back over to the Grove Arcade to buy some. A violinist surveyed the scene.
The end.