The city is ugly at this time of year. Too late for blankets of soft snow, too early for fast thaws, we walk streets frostbitten and frozen. Polar vortex is the new norm and the city has become brittle beneath it.

Head down, three layers on every body part, trying not to let my eyelashes freeze together, I almost didn’t stop. But if we don’t witness these small moments of discovery and mystery, we’ll surely lose them.

Urban magic shapes the detritus of Winter.