Gargoyle on Ice
I’ve been meaning to post this picture – I took it a few weeks ago when we had some bitter cold weather. This gargoyle is perched on the building across from my office, on the Penn campus. I grew up in RI, so I’m used to cold winters, but the winters here in Philly are actually tougher – not because it’s colder, but because it’s warmer. In RI, when it snows, it’s cold, and it’ll usually stay cold for a while afterwards. Then eventually they’ll be a relatively warm day, all the snow will melt, and life goes on. But here, the temperature tends to hover right around the freezing point. So you’ll get snow, then it’ll warm up and melt a bit, then it’ll cool off and freeze, then you’ll get a mix of rain and snow, then more ice, and so on. Living here I’ve come to know and dread the terms black ice and wintery mix.
