So I'm back from New York City.I went up to visit my friend Greg (and my friend Shawn came along). I stayed up way too late the night before, but at least I caught a bus this time. The last time I tried to go visit Greg, I ended up on the side of the road, lost and crying because I knew one wrong turn (as I had made) would cause me to miss the bus (which I did).
Well, let me clarify. A late-runner like myself once again MISSED the intended bus but caught the next one which came 45 minutes later (thankfully). I did not have this luxury the last time I missed the bus, but I guess that was because there's a spot of time during the day where there are less frequent departures because of lunch, and this time I was fortunate enough to avoid that. Anyway, I called Greg on the celly and he was fine with the adjusted time frame. Whew.
New York is always best enjoyed when you've got a guy who's got a city map in his head -- and Greg definitely does. After our long hug greeting in the Port Authority at Gate #29, I handed Greg my wish list of destinations, and he immediately got us to the first desired locale -- as quick as a New York minute. :-)
I bought a lot of glassware at Anthropologie, and then Greg generously suggested that we drop my findings off at his office so that I wouldn't have to carry things all day. It was a great idea, since I was also laden with 2 umbrellas, a sweatshirt, 2 water bottles, 3 different types of sunscreen, 2 eyeglass cases, several snack items, a pop-out map, and a gazillion other just-in-case things that an overly prepared girl would carry. It was as if he knew that I was going to have to unload eventually.
Amazingly, Greg's office was literally right next door to Anthroplogie. A simple "They're with me!" got us past the security guard's desk in the lobby, and the same sentiment breezed us past the receptionist on the 9th Floor.Brightly lit, modern, and with a great view of the city, I was impressed with where Greg spent his 9 to 5 hours. We liked it so much that we would return to hang out there for a while later in the evening when the place was closed. The lunch room is where we would chill, my eyes taking in the expensive kitchen appliances, which included an espresso machine and a machine which dispensed an endless stream of Coke products, all for free. I have this attraction to good-looking kitchen appliances for some reason, and I just wanted to run out with their chrome toaster. *sigh*
But first it was time to hit the subway and buy ourselves Metro Cards. As we people-watched and traveled around that day, we encountered a beautiful angel, resting on the ground on the sidewalk near a park. She was a silent, ethereal being who smiled peacefully but who would fall asleep periodically. I asked if I could have my picture taken with her, and she gleefully nodded that I could, but as I reached for my camera and handed it to Greg to snap, I turned back and noticed she had fallen asleep. These unexpected bouts of slumber continued during the few minutes we spent with her, and this made her whimsical personality even more convincing. In the end, she reached into her bag and handed me a little red heart that had "Love is in you" handwritten on it. But before we could leave, she had fallen asleep again and had subsequently dropped her flower. Shawn went to pick it up and hand it back to her, and--upon waking--she handed him a little red heart that said "Peace be with you" on it.
It was such a nice encounter, and I thought it was so kind that someone would spend their Monday pretending to be an angel that bestows little hearts with reassurances printed on them to passers by. Such a thing surely makes for a better world, does it not? Greg was not nearly as affected by her presence as Shawn and I were. But then, he was the stoic New Yorker and we were just kids from the country. :-)
