I Wanna Be A Part of It: NYC Part I

"New York remains what it has always been: a city of ebb and flow, a city of constant shifts of population and economics, a city of virtually no rest. It is harsh, dirty and dangerous, it is whimsical and fanciful, it is beautiful and soaring--it is not one or another of these things but all of them, all at once, and to fail to accept this paradox is to deny the reality of city existence." |Paul Goldberger|

Here I sit in the loft of 22 West 25th Street, on matress #2 (of 3), on K's laptop, directly across from St. Sava's. St. Sava himself keeps watch over us here, his big eyes peering directly into the apartment and up into the loft. He's watching me now as I type. He's turned his nose at the Sunday flea-market-goers and the noisy cabbies arguing below. This place is amazing. And I feel so little and unimportant in it. It's marvelous!

After being so busy with work before I left, I've been anxious for a little "me" time, looking forward to a little MM experience of my own: seeing all my old friends in the City; walking alone in Central Park. I'd forgotten how big The Park is. What a glorious sight it is, no matter from which area of the City it greets you. I used my feet as a broom as I walked in the Park today...searching for the still-crowned acorns, cloaked in an oak leaf blanket that seems to stretch across most of the lawn near the carrousel. I pocketed a Royal Few. They'll take up residence at home, nesting next to cousins from The Boston Commons and from Grandma's tree with the bird feeder. Sometimes I'm a lot more like my Dad than I thought - scrounging for little bits and pieces of nature from the places I've been. Like him in the best way, that is. As if there is a bad way to be like my Dad. He loves this City.

K knows the history of the carrousel. Her Dad would be proud. We jumped on with childish delight, as soon as the guard let up the gate, and rode round and round. The majority of the riders were adults, which I found to be amusing and magical.



Karli and I walked about the Park for the rest of the afternoon. We talked about The City, K's job, what she's learned after a year of being here as a true City Girl. We had fun imagining Grandpa and Bis among the same sights and streets: the beautiful house in Pelham, Bis's days at NBC and Grandpa's days on Columbia's Crew team, rowing along the Hudson.

There's a little bit of New York City in me, and not just because I love the fast-paced excitement of it all. I feel a sense of heritage when I'm here. It's exciting to be a part of that history, and to take a little piece home in my pocket.

Next up: The West Village, Soho, Chelsea Market, Union Square/ Parsons, The New York Design Center, The D&D Building, Times Square, Harlem/Columbia, etc.

Signing off for now,
Me, Eloise.