Fieldnotes on Humanity

A fallen tree in my neighborhood In my room, pots are for collecting the leaking water from ceiling The last snow storm dumped more than a foot of snow across Midwest and East Coast of the United States on Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday, thick coating of ice covered all over the place. Early in the morning, I woke up with the sound of drops of water falling on my pillow. I cast a fleeting look at the ceiling, it was leaking and from its corner the water was pouring down. I collected pots and pans from my kitchen to prevent further damage to the floor. Then, I tried to call my landlord, my phone was dead, and there was no power to charge my phone. I rushed out of the house to get access to power and charge my phone. At the door, not knowing that ice has covered the stairs and the patio, I made a nice slide, but thankfully fell on the snow; otherwise, I might have broken a limb, like many trees that lost their limbs. As I hit the sidewalk, limbs of trees were lying on sidewalks, ...

Today, I took my bike out to ride around the block for fun, slipped twice and fell off on the street, made people laugh and it was all entertaining and enjoyable. It feels great to bike in a foot of snow, but be careful: if you're going to do it, lower the seat just enough to keep your balance. You also need to have mud or studded tires to prevent sliding. Heaps of snow is going to blanket the entire East Coast of the United States tonight. It has been snowing since Tuesday morning with a slightly frigid chill that is sweeping across the Northeast. Tomorrow, a bitter cold is expected to follow after the sky satiates itself from shedding its frozen tears on to earth. Today, I was feeling nostalgic for those snowy days in the most remote village in central Afghanistan. The snowstorm of today reminded me of the heavy snowfall, up to 3 and sometimes 4 feet of snow, in my village. I recall the winters when the slow, steady snow sometimes lasted five days. I recall the winter...