a steady hand after ages

never seen such ice before

one of those 'first times' that always stick out in one's memory

a frozen stream of water right out my window. a sheet of ice on all smooth surfaces outside. and patchy white snow. guys playing ice-hockey and slipping and falling on the ice. a mattress sledge tied to a truck with an excited woman-undergrad enjoying a ride on it. a walk in this frozen world with aching fingers and a running nose. and the soles of my shoes and the uprightness of my body letting me down with a thud on the icy road more than once. a few hurried clicks of my camera while my near-dead hands fumble. the gloves are useless. and then finally just when the cold keys were being turned in to let myself into my warm apartment, the realization that important documents that were supposed to be under my arm were not, and that in maintaining my balance they must have been unconsciously sacrificed. a hunt for them, another slip-and-fall, and finally the recovery. a warm end, a self-curse and a promise not to step out till the world thawed.