Tonight there are many anxious retailers all across our fair city fearing the dawn of the busiest day of the Christmas shopping season. Dawn of the Dead Sales they are thinking. Well, that may be, but gosh it's beautiful. It reminds me of the "Epiphany Storm" of 1996 where it snowed for a day and a half and we recorded close to two feet of snow. Luckily the snow came down dry and fine with no wind or ice and no one lost power. My 93 year old Miami native grandfather was visiting and watched it with the eyes of a child. Pictures may be worth thousands of words, but they cannot bring you the stillness, the quiet, the enveloping whiteness, the other-worldliness, the beauty of a storm like this. Sitting here gazing out at the falling snow I am reminded of Walker Evans "Part One: A Country Letter" in his engrossing Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941). Writing on a rough kitchen table by candlelight late at night in a remote rural cabin in Alabama, he mediates on the world outside in the dark. It is a great piece of writing. Of course my desk is illuminated by a computer screen, not a candle. (I wonder if there's and app for that?)

Tomorrow will come, we will be here Downtown, and we hope Uptown, with open doors and shoveled walks. Enjoy the day and its beauty. If you need to shop but can't make it here, call or email us. Peruse the website. Our downtown neighbors at O'Suzannah and Blue Whale Books will be open, and many others I expect.

PS. I had a great meal at Camino tonight watching cars and buses slide up and down the hill outside. Both the Paella and the orecchiette pasta were robust and full of flavor.

Market Street late 12/18/2009