sudden dusk

It's remarkable how suddenly a white, snow-covered environment reveals and exaggerates the sudden transformation of the world to pink and purple hues just briefly before the onset of darkness. With my sheer white curtains from college up, I can keep those godawful blinds open and admire the world outside while enjoying my privacy Belgian-style. But in Belgium I hardly cared if someone would have looked in my window. In downtown Rochester it's a different matter.

All day the snow has been pouring down and blowing about as cars and snowplows battle in brief, human-length spurts with the world's patient steady gathering of feet of snow on the ground. The strength of the dusk's hues to color everything in sight reminds me of New Haven's orange skies. The only intense point of color beyond my window is the neon red sign for the "Chinese restaurant" across the street glowing hotly through the chill white flurry.