Recently, we here in the greater New York. New Jersey metropolitan area got hit with a major snowstorm, which has become a relatively rare thing to see prior to Christmas. Most winters, we get at least one decent sized snowstorm, yet winters without any major snowstorms are generally becoming more commonplace, unfortunately. It had been two years since the last time that we got hit with a major snowstorm.
This one was pretty bad. In some areas, there was between 18 inches to two feet of snow. In other areas, like around where I live, it was probably somewhere between 6 to 8 inches of snow, although it should be noted that it was heavy snow, which is to say, particularly annoying to shovel, and dangerous to have to drive on. It also took down some power lines, making it yet even more inconvenient for many.
Personally, I left very early on Wednesday afternoon on the 16th, in anticipation of the storm that was set to arrive in the evening. I worked a long shift, and stayed on for an extra hour and change after the shift, to try and let the storm abate. When my girlfriend informed me that it had stopped snowing by us, I chanced it and drove back. The backroads were badly plowed, but the highways and major arteries were decent and drivable. Getting home was not too problematic.
We laid low that day. It was hardly a day for driving around, anyway. Mostly, we relaxed and watched movies, both of us sleepy. Yes, it was that kind of a winter's day.
However, the next day was different. I was determined to go down to the campus of Princeton University to take some pictures of it in the snow, something that I had actually longed to do for years. It is a beautiful campus, with a distinctly Old World charm and feel to it. There are pictures of it that I had long wanted to take, and some that I am still waiting for. But I had managed to get it in the rain a couple of times, and now, I got it in the snow. It would have been preferable, for the sake of dramatic feel, to have gotten it in the snow on a gray and overcast day, but what I got was fine, too. Obviously, one of my goals is to go there when it is a bit foggy, and get some decent pictures of Princeton when shrouded in fog, like Old London Town.
In any case, it was an enjoyable day, or part of a day. Princeton was not fully open, and a some people seemed to still be in the process of digging out. Yet, to my surprise, there were sidewalk cafes with people sitting outside, even in the cold and snow, with the ice dripping from up high. There were festive holiday decorations that looked quite charming with the recent snowfall. And the campus itself was predictably beautiful and pleasant to walk around in.
I took some pictures, and was hardly the only one. In fact, one or two of the guys there had what appeared to be professional grade cameras, making my little cell phone photography look decidedly amateurish by way of contrast. So be it. It was still pleasant, and for the most part, these pictures seemed to have come out nicely.
And so, without further ado, here are the pictures that I took of Princeton exactly a week before Christmas, and one day after a major snowstorm laid a blanket of pristine white on the grounds of what surely is one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. I stuck close to the most famous parts of the campus, around the historic Nassau Hall and never far from Nassau Street, the major artery of the downtown section of Princeton, before returning home to a nice cup of hot chocolate to warm me up. A pleasant winter's day, and here were the pictures that I managed to take:
Christmastime in Princeton
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