New York

New York! New York!

Lion Looking Out
There are two
guarding both the wisdom and folly of words
housed inside the New York Public Library.
They sit upon pedestals,
gaze out upon the street, passersby, the constructions of time.

Door detail at One Hanson Place
(the Williamsburn Bank,
currently being converted to condos)

The New York Public Library came after our lunch with Herman and Margaret, a delightful couple who still delight in each other after 54 years of marriage. My companion on this adventure, Karin, had accepted a lunch invitation from Herman, and we met them in the foyer at The Waldorf Astoria. The floral arrangement below shows a smidge of the ambience of the Waldorf.

Herman, Karin, and Margaret
(I stood next to the clock pictured on the right to take this photo.)

Waldorf Astoria Clock

Clock Detail

I wish I had a photo of the underground people, the people in the subway terminals--the sea of people I moved with and through and against. I had the most overwhelming sense of being essential; a tiny speck, but essential, a part of the energy, a part of the flow, not just of the city, but of life. Every terminal had its own character. At Brighton Beach, some of the voices were Slavic or Russian, eastern in some sense; near the tenement museum (I think it was Grand Street), the faces were all Asian and when we made the street level to walk the 4-5 blocks to the museum, we found ourselves in NY's China Town. When we went to Manhattan, each stop brought on more business suits. I was amazed, regardless of color, whether dred-locked or manicured, how people helped me with my luggage up and down those steep terminal stairs. Yes, I met a couple rude people, but I meet people equally rude right here in my rural northern California Cottonwood. True, I only spent one week in NY City, but I think television, particularly NYPD Blue and the various Law and Order series, give the general populace of the big apple a bad rep. I'd go back in a heartbeat. The photo on the right is within a few blocks of where Karin and I stayed in Brooklyn. The photo below is of me with my back to the Atlantic Ocean (I think!) as I face Karin and the camera and, beyond Karin, what remains of Coney Island.
		Brooklyn, church doors Another church in Brooklyn not far from Scott's where we stayed
	135 St. Felix Street, Brooklyn The brownstones have all been renovated, even the steps seemed all but brand new, but this is the address where my friend, Karin's great-grandmother had a rooming house. The top two floor were rented and the occupants stayed for years. The lower floors were for family, from Olive and her 2nd husband, Tommy, to Olive's children, including Irene from time to time, and Karin's grandfather, Alex, as well as Olive's grandchildren, Buddy and Florence, and other children and grandchildren, including Karin's father, Louis. The red church doors [pictured earlier, above] belong to the Methodist church directly across the street from 135.
	Erin, Karin, Buddy and Lynn at the Sheepshead Yacht Club. We had drinks here and then, across the street at Maria's, we enjoyed a very fine dinner -- great pastas, excellent food and company.

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And Thank You for stopping by, Lynn

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