ontheborderland:

It is Leap Day and I did not have to work.  So I was especially pleased to throw open the curtains and find that it was snowing.  And snowing a LOT, thick wet flakes.  I waited until rush hour was over and then headed off to Meiji Jingu, because although it is in the heart of Tokyo, it is full of trees and has gravel to walk on.  This city has never thought of using salt preemptively and perhaps they have none—as a consequence, the sidewalks are quite slippery.  They actually had Metro employees stationed at the exits warning people not to slip.  Normally there is such a barrage of information that I ignore almost anything being said to me, but having recently learned the verb “to slide”, I paid heed and saved myself a bruised shin or worse yet, a broken leg, on the frightful tiles outside Harajuku Station.

The shrine itself was magically transformed into a silent forest and there were almost no other visitors.  I walked and walked, enjoying the dizzying torrent of snow and my socks and shoes were soon soggy from splashes and puddles.  The only people who were out were other snow-lovers and we smiled and nodded at each other, the one day a year we could indulge our cold-loving selves.

As I walked along, I forget where and when I was and became completely absorbed in reverie, which is something that almost never happens to me inside a city.

I had grandiose and overly ambitious plans to go to other locations, but having escaped the messy sidewalks relatively unscathed, I went home and ate maple cream cookies and dried off my feet.  It was worth it.