Today is Friday, February 3, 2023. The major story here is the extreme cold that has gripped the Northeast today and is expected to continue until Saturday. This brutal blast of dangerously cold winds has swept across areas of the Northeast and New England. Some areas could be feeling frigid air as cold as 32 degrees Fahrenheit below zero as well as combining with gusty winds, creating a nasty double-whammy that could lead to frostbite in as little as 10 minutes in some regions. I don’t think we have those conditions here in New York City. The temperature now is 11 degrees; at 12 midnight, the temperature is supposed to be as low as 9 degrees. All I can say is “brrrr,” and I can’t wait until Sunday when the temperature is supposed to be a balmy 45 degrees. This is what I left Florida for, I think.

An online CNN article details the weather situation here by Mallika Kallingal, Aya Elamroussi, and Joe Sutton entitled “Emergency measures enacted as ‘epic’ blast of cold air moves into the Northeast.” The peak of the cold is expected to occur in the Northeast late Friday to Saturday morning, CNN Meteorologist Taylor Ward said.

“The severe cold has put more than 15 million people in the region under wind chill warnings or advisories.” Wind chill indicates how cold the air may feel, and the weather service issues such warnings when winds are expected to feel as cold as 25 degrees Fahrenheit below zero.

For those people who would be significantly impacted by the cold like the city’s homeless population, New York has inaugurated what is called “code blue” which has gone into effect this evening because of the expected intense cold temperatures, according to a tweet from the city’s Department of Homeless Services.

This emergency designation allows people to come into the city’s homeless shelter system on an emergency basis and directs New Yorkers to report people on the street as a safety measure. As part of its outreach program, staff and providers partnered with the city will conduct outreach efforts to connect vulnerable, unsheltered New Yorkers to shelter.

A spokesperson for the department indicated, “No one who is experiencing homelessness and seeking shelter in New York City during a Code Blue will be denied.”

As for the number of vulnerable, homeless individuals in the city, the Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy and service organization that helps homeless individuals and families, estimates each night there are thousands of unsheltered homeless people sleeping on New York City streets, the subway, and other public areas. Thank God the cold spell is expected to subside on Sunday when temperatures will likely rise again. But who knows how many of these homeless persons or families could be affected by this cold snap now?

Another region that sure doesn’t want to see this extreme cold is Buffalo, in Erie County, which saw blizzard conditions as recently as Christmas weekend which resulted in at least 39 deaths. Even the South is struggling with a deadly ice storm that made road conditions miserable this weekend, claiming the lives of at least eight people in two states.

In surrounding states, warming centers are expected to be available in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The extreme cold will even be felt in the Midwest as well, where seven states are under wind chill alerts: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa.

The National Weather Service in Duluth, Minnesota, said, “The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes.” So the best thing for people who are impacted by this blast of cold air is to stay indoors.

The deadly ice storm has, sadly, resulted in several fatalities across several states. In Oklahoma, two people were killed in separate crashes after they lost control of their trucks on icy roads.

And in Texas, three people were killed near Brownfield after a driver of a truck lost control Wednesday morning on an icy part of U.S. Highway 380 and rolled into a ditch. The driver and his passengers were killed, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Another driver died near Eldorado, Texas, after losing control of her truck, the department said.

In Arlington, Texas, one person was killed after their vehicle rolled over, police said.

So given the seriousness of this new weather crisis, you would think that Elliot and I stayed indoors and played Scrabble. You would be correct if you guessed that we did not. Right on!

Bundling ourselves against the cold, we went out earlier in the morning to have breakfast at Jackson Hole. Except for walking to the car, we did not linger outside for any conceivable amount of time. I sported my red earmuffs and wore a woolen black hat, as well as a sweater underneath my black button-down coat, while Elliot was likewise attired.

Later I went out again to the Kew Gardens Cinema to see Bill Nighy in his latest movie, Living. There were only three people in the theater including me. That fact did not deter me from enjoying this film which is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 Japanese film, Ikiru. Here the setting is transposed to 1953 Britain, where we see Nighy portray fastidious bureaucrat, Mr. Williams, who basically goes through his day shuffling paper on his desk in the Public Works Department accomplishing nothing by the end of the day. His entire world crumbles when he receives a terminal diagnosis of cancer by his doctor and his one-word reply to the diagnosis is “Quite.” After this, Williams goes on a personal journey of self-discovery in the few months he has left. He is befriended by a former assistant who works in the department, a Miss Harris who is portrayed by Aimee Lou Wood, and soon confides in her his terminal cancer diagnosis. They form an innocent platonic relationship after she leaves the department to work in a restaurant. Of course, some gossipmongers see the pair having dinner in a restaurant and they immediately think the two are a conjugal pair. Realizing that he hasn’t really lived in all his years on the planet, Williams first pursues a hedonistic path, indulging in drink and carousing after meeting a hedonist in a cafe, but rejects that to finally do something worthwhile, which is to push for the building of a children’s playground in a damaged urban area that has been shuffled from department to department for an interminable length of time. Here Williams truly begins living when he connects himself to a project that will provide him a true lasting legacy.

Nighy in the role of the very reserved button-down bureaucrat is a joy to watch. He brings a quiet forcefulness to his performance, conveying Williams’ internal transformation with minimal fuss. He does not go for overdramatizing here at all. It’s a very nuanced, subtle performance, which has deservedly earned him an Oscar nomination for this role. As the gregarious Miss Harris, Wood balances Williams’ reservedness with positivity and warmth.

I recommend this film to anyone who prizes a lovely, tender story over cheap pyrotechnics in most films these days. Just don’t go when it’s this cold.

One more day of bitter cold to go. Stay warm.

Stay safe and be well.