Listen, the snow is falling

Listen, the snow is falling o'er town,
Listen the snow is falling ev'rywhere.
Between empire state building
And between trafalgar square.
Listen, the snow is falling o'er town.

-Yoko Ono

London is freezing. I do not simply mean that London is cold - I mean that it is actively freezing. The forecast for the last few days has fluctuated between "white cloud" and "freezing fog." I'm pretty sure that when J.K. Rowling wrote about the descent of dementors onto the muggle population - she was writing about the freezing fog of London.

First came the snow: it covered the streets quickly, causing Londoners to slide into the zebra crossings without very much grace at all. Then came the hail, which pelted against the snow and created a carpet of ice across every single street. You see, London does not employ the use of salt when it snows- and this may have been their fatal error. The airports closed and the trains shut down. Apparently having snow in central London is a pretty rare phenomenon.

Granted, the ice on the street was definitely treacherous - I slipped several times during various snow ball fights. That said, had we been in the United States - the ice would have been gone in a matter of hours. I am officially convinced that Williamsburg, Virginia is better equipped to cope with snow than London, England. Given the significant difference in latitude, this seems highly inappropriate. (Colonies: 1, Motherland: 0)

And so, what did I do on the day that London froze? I did what every good big sister does: I chaperoned my brother's date to the movies. My brother is eleven. Of course, I had a boyfriend at that age so I completely understood. I promised to be cool, and scored major points by allowing the purchase of popcorn and candy. We sat through The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and when the White Witch appeared, I started to wonder if her spell had been cast over London, too.

The weather had not improved upon exiting the theater: London was still frozen. Rather, it was paralyzed by the cold. People did not seem to know what to do with the ice and ran helter skelter everywhere. The people who stupidly took to the roads encountered fender benders, the ducks at Hyde Park stood atop the frozen Serpentine looking slightly bewildered, and - disgusting as it may be to say - the rats of London came above ground in the confusion, and did not survive.

Tube - as the storm began

And still, London has managed to enchant me. I look out of my window across all of the chimneys, and not only do I start to hum a line from Mary Poppins, but I am completely taken aback by how beautiful it all looks in the quiet white. However, I am ready for the spell to break, at least until Christmas, just so that my family can actually get here.

My sister and brother were supposed to be here by now, but they, along with the rest of the holiday travelers, have been caught up by the freeze. As a result, I have been tasked with keeping my younger brother occupied until their arrival. Today, I decided to initiate him into the Red Velvet Challenge. I wanted to make sure that his first ever Red Velvet cake would be as close to perfect as possible. We started walking toward The Hummingbird Bakery, because it was the only one I trusted to produce something that at least tasted right. I explained the rules, the cake itself, and how incredibly important it was for him to be honest. He took it all very seriously.

We walked into the bakery and his he spotted the cake and cupcakes right away, exclaiming, "Liz - everyone is eating the Red Velvet." And you know what? They were. I kid you not - Red Velvet has gotten big here. Youssef opted for the cupcake, as he seemed slightly intimidated by the size of a slice of cake (and it was close to dinner time). I set it down in front of him, and he looked like this:

Needless to say, Youssef was a little apprehensive. But then he poked it with a finger and got a piece of icing in his mouth and his eyes went wide: "that's good," he said - with a significant amount of surprise. He dug into that cupcake like it was nobody's business. I think I got maybe two bites out of it.

Youssef: "That cupcake is really, really red. Like your hair. Is that why you like it?:
Me: "Maybe. Is my tongue red now?"
Youssef: "Um, your tongue is always red."

His verdict? "Perfect." I then mentioned that I agreed - the taste was perfect, but that I thought, perhaps, the top and bottom were slightly chewy. He said, "oh, yeah, I was about to say that."

The score remains the same for The Hummingbird Bakery, as not much had changed. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed my cupcake there tonight with Youssef. I was proud to convert one more child to the cake, and I knew my mission was accomplished when he asked if we could buy a big slice for later, and maybe come back - soon. But even if he hadn't liked it, his smile in knowing I had included him in this event was worth the visit.

And so Youssef and I walked home, hand in hand, singing Christmas carols and kicking the melting ice off the sidewalk. The freezing fog couldn't touch us - if it really is made of dementors, I'm pretty sure in that moment, I could have created the most dazzling patronus.