Catching up after being away for months...

I actually have some time to write a blog post. I am at work, where ordinarily I'd go out to lunch at this time or go for a walk. However, at this moment it's pouring outside and I don't want to go anywhere. I'm having lunch (animal crackers--yeah, I know--not exactly a nutritious meal) at my desk and writing because, hey, I have time.

The summer ended about two weeks ago, and it was quite an eventful summer. We traveled to New York City in late July and spent a solid week being uber-tourists (and, had I been given more of an opportunity, I'd have explored NYC even more than I did). We spent a day at the Bronx Zoo and I was impressed by how green, leafy, and beautiful it is. In fact, The Bronx was one of the most eye-opening experiences of the trip. Do you know how you will have an image of a place in your head and how actually being IN that place either confirms your image or--more often than not--completely destroys and reconfigures the image in your head? That happened to me in The Bronx. It was much greener and hillier than I expected. Now, I only saw a relatively small portion of The Bronx, but it completely defied my expectations. It was much prettier than I would have ever expected.

I hadn't been to Manhattan since February 1990, and at that time my experience was essentially limited to the area around Barnard College and Columbia University (Broadway between W. 114th and 120th). This time, I drove from the Bronx Zoo to the Belvedere Hotel on W. 48th Street. I honestly believe I deserve some sort of medal for successfully negotiating NYC traffic in the middle of the afternoon. That was far beyond any traffic I have ever experienced in the 35 years I've been driving. So, anyway, I safely got us to the Belvedere and was in no hurry to drive the car again until we left.

I enjoyed the hell out of Manhattan. Yes, it is much "cleaner" than it was the last time I was there--and I'm sure even more expensive. But for the first time in my life I had the chance to see and do things in New York I'd always wanted to do. Only took me 51 years to make that happen. More on this later...