La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
IT’S 61°F HERE ON THE Costa del Sol and there is (I really want to say are) 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) of snow in New York City. The city of Binghamton, New York, three hours northwest of NYC, got 40 inches (102 cm) of snow. It will give me something to talk about with The Kid Brother.
San Geraldo went out last night to pick up take-away pizza; about a 4-minute walk. He wondered aloud if he should wear a stocking cap. (I no longer answer when he asks those questions.) He then said aloud that the sweatshirt [a heavy sweatshirt] and winter coat he was wearing both had hoods. It was 57°F (14°C). I went out on a limb and said I thought he could leave the wool cap at home. He did and he managed.
I’m doing much better and am grateful for your kindness in recent days (and always). I’m keeping things short and sweet today. Just a collection of old snow photos.
The top photo was the cover of an invitation I did for a holiday Christmas party when I worked in Medical Illustration at State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center in the late 1970s. The illustration certainly wouldn’t be appropriate for work these days. It was done for the Department of Urology and the head of the department was Dr. Waterhouse. No lie.
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HACE 16 ° C AQUÍ EN la Costa del Sol y hay 6.5 pulgadas (16.5 cm) de nieve en la ciudad de Nueva York. La ciudad de Binghamton, Nueva York, a tres horas al noroeste de Nueva York, recibió 40 pulgadas (102 cm) de nieve. Me dará algo de qué hablar con The Kid Brother.
San Geraldo salió anoche a comprar pizza para llevar; a unos 4 minutos a pie. Se preguntó en voz alta si debería usar una gorra de media. (Ya no respondo cuando hace esas preguntas). Luego dijo en voz alta que la sudadera [una sudadera pesada] y el abrigo de invierno que llevaba tenían capuchas. Hacía 14 ° C (57 ° F). Me arriesgué y dije que pensaba que podía dejar el gorro de lana en casa. Lo hizo y se las arregló.
Estoy mucho mejor y estoy agradecido por su amabilidad en los últimos días (y siempre). Voy a mantener las cosas breves y dulces hoy. Solo una colección de viejas fotos de nieve.
La foto superior era la portada de una invitación que hice para una fiesta navideña cuando trabajaba en Ilustración Médica en la Universidad Estatal de Nueva York, Centro Médico Downstate a fines de la década de 1970. La ilustración ciertamente no sería apropiada para trabajar en estos días. Se realizó para el Departamento de Urología y el jefe del departamento fue el Dr. Waterhouse (que significa Casa de Agua). En serio.
My Mother the Dowager Duchess, Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Mi Madre La Duquesa Viuda, Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
My wonderful Aunt Lilly (my mother’s eldest sister) with her daughters, blizzard 1948. 20 inches of snow in NYC.
Mi tia increíble Lilly (hermana más mayor de mi madre) con sus hijas. Ventisca 1948, 51 cm de nieve en la ciudad.
My parents, 1948.
Mis padres, 1948.
San Geraldo y sus hermanas, alrededor 1960, Sioux Falls, Dakota del Sur.
1986. SG shovels in New Haven, Connecticut.
1986. SG quita nieve en New Haven, Connecticut.
Un muñeco de nieve cansado de Dakota del Sur en la década de 1960.
It is 34 degrees Fahrenheit here this morning, there were a few fluffy snowflakes a few minutes ago. SG would truly freeze. Having lived in the semi-tropics for 20 years, I understand feeling COLD at 57 degrees.
David:
Our blood had thinned. I spent 7 weeks in NY that winter with the ice floes in New York Harbor (2014 maybe?) when my mother was in hospital. I actually did fine. SG was there part of the time. He did NOT do fine.
You are so talented! We have your ass painting proudly hanging in our new home.
Kathleen:
Ooh, I’ve been answering questions about THAT (my ass painting) all day. We need another activity party (SOME DAY) to get me doing things again.
Two things:
The Dowager Duchess is beautiful and has an infectious smile, and …
Note that SG is working IN THE SHOW without jackets [plural] or a knit cap!
Bob:
She was beautiful. Never truly knew it. Passed that on to her children. Also note that SG was wearing an official ski patrol jacket. But he had worked up a sweat; I’m surprised he was still wearing even THAT. Anyway, he was in his 30s then!
Just out helping our ‘plow guy’……we got 25 cm of snow last night.
His plow broke down just as he finished our place.
With a sledge hammer hit here and there and a couple bolts replaced, he fixed it.
Look at those snow drifts in South Dakota!! Jerry I understand you now and your feelings for the COLD!
Jim:
When Jerry’s father died, there was a blizzard that legally closed all roads in the state. There was a 24-foot drift on the interstate that had to be drilled through (a giant drill) to make it collapse so it could be plowed. Paradise!
Makes me shiver just to look at those snow photos. That is as close to snow as I hope to ever get! We had plenty in Rochester, MN, but it was so very cold there that the snow was super dry and would blow across the road like sand in the Sahara. No making snowballs or forts from that stuff.
Wilma:
I didn’t know that about the dry snow in Rochester, MN. At least it was good for snow angels. Someone in SG’s family invariably died during or just before a blizzard. We always thought they were laughing at us.
I love your artwork. Just love it. Always.
My mom had a big mutton fur coat (that’s what she called it), like the DD had. Fun to see.
Lots of great kit houses in Binghamton, NY, now half coverd in snow, I guess! (It’s funny how many random little town around America that I know about, just because they have Sears houses there–ha!)
Judy C:
My mother loved that “mutton” coat (of course she called it mouton… which I always thought was how you pronounced mutton when I was a kid). I found it in the closet along with her Persian lamb after she died, also given to her in 1947. I had good friends who had a wonderful farm house that they were restoring outside Binghamton. Wonder if it was a Sears house! These interests of ours really broaden our horizons. Jerry’s genealogy makes parts of the world in periods in time so much more meaningful.
funny illustration, but yeah, so NOT appropriate these days.
SG would not like it here right now; 30F at 11a. LOVE all the pix!
I heard you were outside making snow angels!!!!!!
Mistress Maddie:
I want to make snow angels! And then come home to the Mediterranean Sea.
anne marie:
30?!? If that were 30 celsius, you’d be fine (86F).
Great snow photos! And I love your snowman illustration! But that’s not a urine sample in that bottle, is it? LOL
Debra:
I gave the liquor bottle a second thought at the time. Interestingly, when I found the picture to share on this blog post, I immediately thought urine sample!
Ah, snowy days. I remember waking up one morning in my apartment in Minneapolis back in the early 1970s and couldn’t understand why it was really dark in the living room, but not the bedroom (both facing west). Imagine my surprise when I opened the curtains and discovered the entire sliding door was buried under snow except for about six inches at the top left hand corner. Was even more dramatic as I lived on the third floor. But no, not thirty feet of snow, just two+ feet and a blizzard making drifting snow a hazard. Of course, I still had to go to work (after I uncovered my VW bug)…hardy bunch, those upper mid-westerners. Didn’t mind the snow as much as the -20+ degree days…when the inside of your nose would freeze the instant you take a breath. Clearly understand why SG left SD for warmer climes. Brrr.
Mary:
We had a friend in San Diego (born and raised) who was elated to be escaping to Minneapolis. He arrived in the spring and was in love. Complained about the mosquitoes during the summer but still loved it. There was an early blizzard that fall. It was “awesome”! He moved back to San Diego mid-February!
I went to school in Binghamton, it is part of the snow belt and we used to jump out of the 3rd floor windows into 11 foot drifts. Now….loving Southern Caliifornia
Ron Block:
I went to school in Brockport! Yep, Southern California and now the Mediterranean Sea are OK by me.
Oh, how nice!!!!! It’s 61 there huh! Fine…. rub the salt in this hot house flowers wounds. That alright, i don’t mind! Jokes aside I do like snow. Just not the cold. It is brilliantly sunny here today, I dare even say blindingly so. Those picture you shared are a gas. Your mother could almost pass for Judy Garland in the first. And the one of San Geraldo in South Dakota? Yeah ….no.
Mistress Maddie:
I love the snow as long as I don’t have to drive anywhere… and as long as the pavement doesn’t ice up and I don’t take my life in my hands walking. The day after a big snowstorm is usually glorious. SG’s sister and his nephews have never left South Dakota (well, lots of travel and school) but it’s been home always. I love them but I think they’re all tetched!
Dear when did you need ice covering anything to take your life in your hands? I worry for you just walking to the bathroom with your accident record, lol!!!!!!!!
Mistress Maddie:
Well, I can’t argue with that. But did you ever hear about the British daredevil/circus performer who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel (broke some legs and jaw I think, but survived)? He died some years later after slipping on an orange peel. True story. (Not even a banana peel!)
I love your snowman illustration. I knew of a dentist in Maryland named Dr. Toothman–also no lie. The temperature here is about the same as yours.
Love,
Janie
Janie:
There was also a podiatrist in Washington DC when we lived there whose name was Dr. Corn! I think these people have no choice but to go into these professions, especially Dr. Doctor and Nurse Nurse.
Re: Doctor Doctor, the doctor who treated who treated President James Garfield after he was shot was named Dr. Doctor Willard Bliss. He was not a doctor who believed in the new practice of cleanliness and frequently probed President Garfield’s wound with an unwashed and ungloved hand. He also couldn’t find the bullet. and when he was told where it was, he insisted it couldn’t possibly be there. His practices helped the president along to an untimely death two and a half months later.
Janie:
I never knew about Dr. Bliss. Sounds more like Dr. Death.
Wonderful artwork !
Having some cold weather here, about time but no rain yet.
You are so lucky to have old photos.
cheers, parsnip
Parsnip:
Yes, very grateful our photos have survived. We’ve scanned them all (or almost all). I have a dear friend who also lost all her photos. That’s hard to get over.
I know it’s been banned from comedy in recent years (anyone remember Foster Brooks?), but people still DO get drunk. It’s not like they’ve repealed the repeal of Prohibition. Still, I guess it wouldn’t do to have an inebriated snowman at an office Christmas party. You have to draw the line somewhere. But I like the drawing anyway. You’re quite the cartoonist.
Kirk:
The drunken snowman was one thing but the drunken snowman DOCTOR definitely crosses a line. Hi, I’m your … HIC … doctor … HIC… I’m … HIC… going to perform your… HIC… prostate … HIC surgery.
I love your drunken snowman! In my hometown of Tampa, there was a urologist with a prominent office who was named Dr. Cockburn.
Steve:
There are so many of these hilarious doctor names. Now I’m on a jag thinking about good names for a proctologist!
I went to med school with a Jeffrey Nurse and a Thomas Doctor.
think about this.
Urspo:
When I was at Downstate, there were also a Dr. Doctor and a Nurse Nurse on staff. Dr. Nurse would be very confusing.
The illustration is terrific. I’d rather have a bottle in front of me…
Walt the Fourth:
I can remember doing the illustration. It took a matter of minutes. That’s how it was when I was never without a drawing tool in my hand. Would love to get back to that ease. Maybe I need a bottle in front of me…