A snowy tree transforms a normal block into a thing of beauty. Craig Nelson, 2014.

When you’ve lived in a neighborhood for several years, you start to really notice the small details–a colorful doorway, a stunning mural, a flower in a window, the friendly octogerian guy sweeping the sidewalk. But sometimes it takes a jolt in the norm to bring to life some things you’ve never noticed. This happened this week with the snowstorm that swept through. It was nothing compared to ThunderSnow a few years back, but the powder was damp, and it clung to everything it came in contact with, including all of the trees in East Harlem. I had walked by many of these trees around Lexington Avenue hundreds, if not thousands, of times, yet I never noticed how big or even beautiful they could be. Living in the city, you tend to inhale nature in places like Central Park and leave more leafy scenes to blocks in Park Slope or the Upper West Side. East Harlem, you have surprised me again.