L.A.C. In N.Y.C.

When we first moved to NYC, I was often pegged as a midwesterner because I would naturally make eye contact, smile, strike up conversations with total strangers. I noticed things too. I saw the child crying on the subway, the homeless man on the corner, the tired shift worker heading home as I was heading out to work. Recently, I had started to realize that I had quit noticing quite so much. I still smile ten times more than your typical New Yorker. I still notice elderly people needing a seat on the subway or bus. But I was becoming much  more into myself. I have become much more absorbed in my book than watching people. I walk down the street with my earbuds in instead of listening to the conversations and languages around me. 

In general that isn’t a bad thing, but I didn’t want to become so immune and out of tune with what was happening around me that I forgot to consider my fellow humans. So for my big 50th birthday I decided to MAKE myself notice. Part of the goal was to do some anonymous deeds for which I would have no way of knowing the effect they would have (butterfly effect) and others I wanted to get strongly out of my comfort zone and not only see the need around me but do some little thing to fill it. 

So I marked my day planner counting down the 50 days to my birthday. For each of those days I did a small act of kindness. i then recorded the act in my planner, and for some of them that had significant impressions I journaled about them more fully. 

I want to share just a few of the observations and encounters I had as a further reminder of the impact it can have not only on the recipient and giver of kindness, but also, many times, on the people who are merely in the space observing. 

In general, the random acts I did that were not directed at one specific individual, impacted me less, but I have no way of telling what impact they had on someone else’s day. That was fun.These acts were mostly performed by leaving notes of encouragement, and activity books and pens in various places. When we traveled back to Ohio, I left them in PA and Ohio rest areas. 

But the truly meaningful experiences were the ones where I stepped out of my comfort bubble and reached out. 

The very first day. I went for my long run in the park. There is always a homeless man in the same place in the park every time I run there. As a female runner, I am very leery of random men I encounter on my runs. The fact that he is always in the same place, and sees me regularly was scary to me. I said a long prayer on the way. I asked God to stop me if it wasn’t safe to approach him. Instead, I had an overwhelming sense that I absolutely should engage with him. I now know that Neil hangs in the park because his home in the projects isn’t safe, pleasant, or comfortable. He comes to the park to breathe the fresh air, watch the people, and the boats on the water. Now when I run through the park, I wave and say “Hi Neil”. He smiles and gives me a little wave back. I’m not longer scared and he gets a little human interaction for those few seconds I run past. 

One of the days, I decided to buy a beverage for who ever was behind me in the line at Starbucks. i took my earbuds out, smiled at the woman behind me and told her what I would like to do. She argued with me all the way through line, telling me it wasn’t necessary, why would I do this, she wasn’t sure she could let me do it, she even accused me of not being from NYC (YEA!) but in the end she allowed me to buy her coffee. As we were leaving, we introduced herself (Kim was her name) and she said she was going to have to post this on Social Media. I said GO AHEAD! I smiled all morning. I hope she did too. One of the best parts though was watching the faces and body language of all the people around us hearing this exchange and of the barista when we ordered. I know it bolstered their days too and I hope it inspired someone else to reach out as well. 

One other exchange I had was with a beggar on the train. This is one of the places I am MOST jaded. Many of the “homeless” asking for money are working for a network and handler and only want money, even though they say anything will help. I decided to test ( okay so that wasn’t a very kind attitude) this guy. I had an apple in my bag. As he walked past, I said, “would you like an apple?” He agreed that would be great. The whole time I was opening my attache he was muttering “golden delicious, golden delicious, golden delicious” he ended up with Gala because I don’t eat golden delicious but he left like i had given him actual gold. Lesson learned, don’t always make assumptions - ask the question. 

There were exchanges that didn’t go so well. I have noted them as well because they were eye opening to me. One day, it was bitter cold in March here in NYC, I had a brand new pack of 3 pairs of socks for someone. I approached a man in the subway station and he RAN AWAY FROM ME! HE was afraid of ME! Wow, I never stopped to think that there may be some homeless people who are as afraid of those of us who have means and priviledge the same way we avoid them. I had to chew on that for a while. Another time, I offered to buy a teenage girl a meal from the food cart that was by the corner where she was begging, she turned me down because “she only eats junk food”. I judged that one wrong, I would have thought she was seriously a girl down on her luck that would have taken anything someone offered her. 

I know there are people who say we should just be kind and not focus on “daily act of kindess” projects. I can see that reasoning, but if, like me, you are realizing you aren’t paying attention I encourage you to make focused effort. You will benefit and so will so many people around you. 

Where am I going from here. Well first, I’m going to cherish my notebook. I only shared a very few stories here but i have 50 days of notes that make me smile. Hannah is at boot camp. She has asked me to help write and encourage another woman in her platoon that doesn’t seem to be getting much support from home so I am now writing her every time I write Hannah. And, after four years of not really doing any volunteer projects, I have found a little way to contribute in the arts here that I believe will feed my soul. 

I love how I have acclimated to NYC and I love living here. I believe more of us can notice those around us and make the city a nicer place for all who live and visit here. 

One that that was very difficult before we were empty nesters was spontaneously going on a date any time we wanted. At first, it was because we were still college students and had very little money that period of time also overlapped with both of us having jobs requiring evenings, weekends and unpredictable hours. Once the girls arrived, money was still tight, but there was also the issue of scheduling babysitters, extra-curricular activities, and just generally being exhausted. 

I am happy to report that neither of us having any intention of persuing an advanced degree, having any more children. We are now both in jobs that are as typically 9-5 as you can get in 2018 and, while not rolling in cash, we are comfortable enough to splurge on a show, or a meal out on occasion. 

Kinky Boots has been on my MUST SEE list for years. Everything worked together this past week for us to get a chance to go see it. I’m so happy we did, because I started hearing (after we purchased our tickets) that it is leaving in April! Greg is a member of TDF which offers discount tickets at times. He saw this pop up on the list and we decided to go. 

The Hirschfeld Theater is a beautiful (albeit without much leg room) old theater. There is some interesting frieze work and stained glass in the bathroom area. 

At first all I noticed was the stained glass, but then I got to looking at the figures underneath. There isn’t much about this online when I decided to dig a little deeper. Here is a link about some of the history of the building and the shows that have played there. 

Now let’s talk about the show. I had seen the movie on Amazon and I have listened to the soundtrack many times on Spotify so I was prepared and excited for what I was about to see and hear. It is, in my opinion, impossible to really know a show or appreciate it until the point at which you see it live. Everything creates an energy and a mood that you just will never get with film. This cast was absolutely freaking amazing! I was a little disappointed that Mark Ballas had left the previous weekend after a few months of playing Charlie. All disappointment vanished with the performance by Conor Maynard. He WAS Charlie Price. He moved me to tears, laughter, thoughtfulness, and back to laughter and tears again with his portrayal of a man struggling to know himself and to accept others. Wow, don’t we all struggle with not only what are personal desires are, but what our family and friends expect of us as well? 

He, along with most of the rest of the cast were also very kind in taking time after a long, hard night of work to stop by the stage door line to sign autographs and take some photos. 

When we received our programs we discovered that Stephane Duret would be playing the role of Lola instead of J. Harrison Ghee. Now, I mean no disrespect to Mr. Ghee because he has been in Kinky Boots for a while, but if I had not read the insert in the program prior to the show I would have had zero idea that we were seeing the understudy. Stephane’s performance was above superb. i told him as he was signing my program that I had wanted to see this show for ever and he exceeded my every expectation of how much I was going to enjoy it! That was not a lie. I hope he has a long future on Broadway (this play is his debut) and I intend to follow him and see more of what he is in. 

Lest I forget the women in the play, Caroline Bowman (Nicola) and Carrie St. Louis (Lauren) rocked the house. I know I am using too many superlatives in this post, but WOW just WOW. I can’t find my School of Rock program right this minute. It is still packed from the move this summer, but I am almost certain Carrie St Louis was in School of Rock when Hannah and I attended that show. I kept feeling all evening like I had seen her before but I couldn’t place her. That is a great credit to an actress in my opinion because she played the characters equally well but gave them their own....well... character. I will have to dig it out and find out if I am right. In any case, I would love to see her and Caroline Bowman in whatever they are doing after Kinky Boots. 

Now, about the show. I’m sure if you know nothing about it you have made a rash judgment based on the title alone. Yes, there are drag queens in the show. In fact, any time the Angels were on stage dancing they stole the show. The dance on the conveyor belts was amazing! But the whole point of the show is an important life lesson we all need to learn, relearn, practice, teach and learn again. In fact, here is Lola’s Six Step Programme: 

1. Pursue the Truth 2. Learn Something New 3. Accept Yourself and You’ll Accept Others Too 4. Let Love Shine 5. Let Pride Be Your Guide 6. You Change the World When You Change Your Mind! 

Read them, recite them, live them! Seriously, there is so much hate in the news right now. There is so much happening that is humanly hateful and wrong. Being in a theater full of people who were embracing these tenets, singing, clapping, laughing, crying, dancing together gave me just a few hours of rest, relaxation and hope for better days. 

I often get frustrated that there isn’t more I can do personally to change the oceans of hate and terrible treatment of others that I hear about daily. But you know what? Those six statements above? I can do that! 

This was our very first Thanksgiving ever (including from the time we started dating)  we were not surrounded by our family for the day. in the years prior to us moving to NYC, my wonderful mother-in-law and I took turns preparing the meal and hosting everyone. There were a few years where we were able to go back to the Cincinnati area to meet up with my family. No matter where we were there was always a crowd of people, tons of food, and plenty of games and conversation. Since we have moved to NYC, we have attended the Macy’s parade twice, cooked the meal in our smaller College Point kitchen, and last year, we even enjoyed eating out and then venturing to Macy’s for some Black Friday shopping.

This year was much different. Sarah and Joe spent the day in Athens with his parents. Hannah went with her cousin to Greg’s mom and dad’s house for the traditional Thanksgiving (including eating her weight in homemade noodles by Grandma) and an afternoon of domino playing. Greg and I were just us.

A couple months ago while trying to cook a meal, and bake some cookies all in the same day, I half-jokingly said to Greg we need reservations for Thanksgiving. Last week, while making banana nut bread for him to take to work I confirmed that cooking a full on multi-course turkey dinner is not ever going to happen in this apartment. See below for a picture of the banana bread baking.

Greg has amazing skills at finding outstanding restaurants for us to enjoy. I charged him with making the reservations. He picked The Thirsty Koala, a farm to table Australian Restaurant here in Astoria that we had noticed right after signing the lease on this apartment, but had not yet tried. Now the farms are local, but the food is a combination of Australian and Greek dishes.

We started with a bottle of Australian wine and some fried halloumi cheese. I will be going back just to eat this appetizer. It was amazing. In fact, when I got home, I looked up how to make it, because I’m pretty sure I can buy it at the Euromarket across the street.

Sadly there was no kangaroo on the menu. I hear that they used to serve it and it was delicious. If there had been, I would have skipped the traditional Thanksgiving meal and ordered it. However, I am not quite ready to give up all that is familiar of the holiday and ordered the prix fixe menu which was a traditional special.

If you are local, or if you come to visit us, I highly recommend this restaurant. The service was extremely friendly and accommodating. As will happen when you eat out, especially on big service days, our food was not hot when it got to our table. The waitress was very quick to take it back and make it right. She was gracious and apologetic which is all I look for when a mistake happens. A hallmark of a great restaurant, in my opinion, is how they deal with adversity and how they work to make the customer happy and comfortable. This is a great restaurant.

After we ate, it was so cold outside that we took the train home instead of walking off the food. I climbed under the quilt on the couch, and quickly entered a food-coma, football commentator induced nap. When I woke up, I said I had to get up. Greg asked me why. He pointed out there was no clean up to be done, no further food to be prepared. In essence, I was enjoying “man” Thanksgiving. ha ha. I have been part of the patriarchy and life is much cushier there.

Last Saturday I hit the trifecta of the relaxation perfection. It started with a relaxing, hour long, run through our neighborhood. Just 36 hours before the ground had been covered in inches of surprise snow. But the temperatures warmed and the sun came out just in time for me to get my feet on the pavement. While I love running with my friends and this run would have been made even better with someone else along, I do enjoy the time when I can listen to my podcasts and just reflect and think and wander at will too. While I was doing that Greg was delivering the car for some minor repairs so we will be ready to make our trek to Ohio for Christmas. 

After a brief lunch at home, we headed into the city for a wine tasting at Some Good Wine on E 8th Street in Greenwich Village. They do a themed monthly wine tasting which is always tasty and informative. I enjoy going, not only to refill the wine rack, but also to learn more about the different grapes, regions of the world and mature my palette (oh wow that sounds snobbier than I mean it). Trust me I still love an $8.00 bottle of wine with an animal on the label. This month the theme was wines to go with Thanksgiving dinner. Now, I am not cooking this year. I will write more about that in a future post. But Greg and I both enjoyed the large varieties of red wines we were able to taste. We managed to add a few bottles to the rack for future enjoyment. We also saw this really cute Nativity Set - note that it is set about the Israeli wines. If you are in the city, I certainly recommend Some Good Wine. They have knowledgeable staff, a large selection in all price points, and it is a very friendly atmosphere in which to shop. 

Greg, the carrier of the things, took the wine home and I headed for the next stop on my relaxation adventure. I took a brief side trip into Mercer Books (a used and rare book store also in the Village) and managed to only come out having purchased three books!. But my real destination was Bliss! Bliss is a spa and I was headed for a deep tissue massage. if you know me at all, I say I am relaxed (and I really feel that I am) but my shoulders and neck are usually solid as a rock. I also have been having some soreness in my hamstrings so I decided it was time to have some work done. Thankfully, I had been given a gift card to Bliss months ago so I was able to enjoy without feeling like a splurging on myself. The gift was much appreciated because it was far too generous return for an act of kindness I did without even thinking about the fact that it might be viewed as out of the ordinary. I was just doing what needed to be done in helping take care of a friend’s dog while she was away on business. In any case, she appreciated my help and I SO appreciate her gift of massage. I enjoyed some herbal tea, flipping through an actual magazine, leaving my phone in the locker for over an hour, and then an incredible massage. I so appreciate how Neil went over our time to make sure my neck and legs were feeling perfect before he finished. 

I got home with very little issue in transit in time to cook Greg and I a feast of Greek delightfulness including lamb gyros, marinated vegetables, spanikopita, olives, feta, and of course some of the wine we purchased earlier. 

One of the many great things about living in New York City is the opportunity to visit amazing museums more than once. I love going to see the special exhibits but also how they change the permanent collection around a few times a year. 

While listening to a podcast a few weeks ago, I heard an advertisement for the Bruce Nauman “Disappearing Acts” at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). Greg has a membership through work and I knew I wanted to see this one. Yesterday was a blustery, chilly day and perfect for traipsing around a museum all afternoon. 

When I say i enjoyed the exhibit, I don’t necessarily want these pieces hanging in my apartment. They aren’t beautiful landscapes, or interesting portraits. But I enjoy it because it makes me think. I find myself pondering not only the meaning I get from the piece, but what the artist may have been feeling or thinking as he explored the ideas portrayed. Thankfully, at the museum that often give you a placard describing the piece which can help guide this way of thinking. 

Mr. Nauman did many different pieces in neon tubing. Some of them would not be acceptable for a large audience so I will not share photos, but I particularly was intrigued by this one. If you look closely you will see the words are “____ and live”. For every one of these, there is a counterpart that says “______ and die”. They randomly lit up flashing usually one at a time, but sometimes two would light at the same time. Then, all at once, the entire wall lights up. Think about the perspective you can do just about anything and live or die. Hmmmmm. 

This piece was a series of videos on display at MoMA PS1 (in Queens) as you went through the various rooms, you saw this same film get chopped into smaller and smaller fragments with each piece slightly off time with the ones above and below it. We also saw the notes on the performance piece that should be done with this one. This was written for a dancer. Disappearing Acts - what happens as we get segmented and pulled in more directions throughout the simple movements of our life (this person is just walking back and forth). Hmmmmm. See, I like this art because it makes me think. While not classically beautiful, it has beauty in the conveyance of thought. 

Another temporary exhibit we happened upon was this one by Bodys Isek Kingelez. These pieces are intricately constructed buildings and cities. There were not enough hours to examine the fine detail work that went into each and every section of each and every model. They were fascinating. 

This post will get far too long if I write in detail about him, but the ideas and work are so cool, I want to share the link to MoMA’s artist page so you can see and read more. Go to https://www.moma.org/artists/68319 you won’t be sorry you took the time. 

We also finally went out to the Sculpture Garden which is in the center of the museum. Yes it was chilly, but as you can see it was also a bright, beautiful day to be out there. This is probably our fifth or sixth visit to MoMA and we had never actually gone outside. I’m so glad I did because, in addition to the permanent sculptures, and the peace of the open air space which was surprisingly quiet even though it is in the middle of the city, I got to see this snowman stored in a freezer so he doesn’t melt. 

The artist is Peter Fischli for an exhibit called “If Everything is Sculpture Why Make Sculpture”. Here are the details about this work. https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/4982 What I loved about this one (I mean other than it is snow and what is better than snow?) is that it reminds me of the The Snowman in the picture book by the same name by Raymond Briggs. All he needs is a green hat, but I think he is missing that because he is in his nice little home. You don’t wear hats inside, you know? 

Last weekend was Ohio University Homecoming. From 1987-2014, I was living in Athens, Ohio. I am sure there were games and parades I missed - especially in the years I was having babies and then when our kids were in marching band - but I was always “home” and part of the excitement of being there. 

The past few years, I’ve wished we could go, missed it a little, but just accepted that we were too far away and wasn’t too affected by not being there. This year was a different story though. For some reason, I really started wishing we were going back, but not until it was really too late to plan time off from work, budget for the trip, find a place to stay etc. I will say, Greg hinted a few times to do it, when there was still time to plan it, but I’m always thinking ahead to wanting the time and travel money for the holidays and I wasn’t buying in when we could have done something about it. 

So instead, we packed a full weekend of shows, volunteering, eating out and taking a short road trip to New Jersey (for groceries of all things). 

Friday night we attended the Mannes School of Music symphony concert featuring their concerto winners. I hadn’t intended to go  out Friday night but Baron Fenwick was playing the Bernstein Symphony #2 (The Age of Anxiety). I have heard him play on a few occasions now and did not want to miss another opportunity - especially if he was playing Bernstein. We went to Ramen EAK for dinner with Rachel and then the concert. As expected, I would have missed an incredible performance if I had gone home early. 

On Saturday, I met up with several other NY-based Bobcats to do some Community Service. We took part in #CaresDay2018 in which we donated our time to a school in Brooklyn that serves many area projects and families who are new to the country. That’s us pictured up above with the two first grade teachers. We painted their room a fresh new color of blue and spruced things up a bit for the children. The similarities of these inner city schools to the schools in which I taught in rural Ohio are incredible. Many of these children come to school dirty, hungry, exhausted and in need of not just an education but basic necessities. The teachers pay huge amounts of money out of their own pockets to provide healthy snacks, clean clothes and the support the parents need as well as the students. Donating a few hours of my time on a Saturday (while others were at kegs and eggs, the parade, the game and hanging out on campus) seemed like the perfect thing for me to do since I didn’t go “Home”. Even though I no longer teach, my heart is always in a classroom and it felt so good to pull together with likeminded Bobcats and other groups from the community to help these incredible teachers out. 

I went to brunch with several of our crew and spend many hours eating, drinking, gabbing with them. So many hours, I had to hire a Lyft to bring me home in time to leave again right away after I changed out of my smelly painting clothes. Greg and I had tickets to a performance of Kurt Vonnegut’s play “Happy Birthday, Wanda June”. As with most of Mr. Vonnegut’s works even though this was written some time again, its timeliness to current events, and thought-provoking while humorously delivered dialogue was extremely entertaining. 

At this point, it was starting to feel like a real homecoming weekend. I was getting exhausted by so many varied activities. But we weren’t done yet. No way! 

We had promised Rachel that we would take her to a big box grocery store. The neighborhood where she lives is amazing, but the shopping choices are limited and expensive. She doesn’t have a car so going on her own is very difficult and expensive. We had heard so many people from the east coast sing the praises of Wegman’s that we found one in New Jersey and decided to go there. Thankfully traffic, by NYC standards, was light and we didn’t get stopped in any major traffic jams. I am not a fan of grocery shopping, not even a little, but I have to say (yep I know Greg reads this so I am swallowing my pride here) it was worth the trip and I would do it again. The prices were definitely lower. The selection was greatly higher. The customer service was extremely good. I think we will probably have to do it again - just not every month! Rachel had ridden the train out to us, but we drove her all the way to her apartment in lower Manhattan and helped unload all her groceries. This gave us another new experience in driving up the FDR (highway on the eastside of Manhattan) and driving across the 59th Street (Queensborough) Bridge. Yep, we were feeling groovy. 

I am not going to lie. As much as there were weekends I complained about the time we spent at high school and college football games being band parents and supporting our girls, one of the things I have missed the most (even more than breathing fresh air) is attending sporting events. We had not attended a high school or college football game in almost four years so when a friend of mine said she had tickets to a Colombia University football game, and the weather was going to be somewhat fall like, I jumped at the chance to see some live football again. 

There were many things different about going to Colombia’s football game over what I was used to doing. First of all, I have no Colombia U gear but I managed to find a top in my wardrobe that was virtually the right color. Then we took public transit (i.e. the subway) to get there and the football stadium is several blocks north of campus (not close at all - they run shuttle busses for the students). Also many things were much smaller  - the stadium, the players, the crowd, the band (!). Also the concession stand prices were one of the few things in New York City that we have found cost less instead of more.

But for everything that was different so many things were the same and it felt so good to be back in a stadium again. I love the camaraderie that happens among fans as they cheer on the team. Fans are the same everywhere. I fall into the scream my head off and beat on my husband category, you have the loud mouth bleacher coaches, the old timers who remember the “good old days”, the students who aren’t paying a bit of attention, the small children trying to act like one of the adults - they are all there. It doesn’t matter the school, the league, the level of national ranking. This is where similarity happens. I found myself completely invested in a Colombia win! It was fun to congratulate the parents of one of the defensive players who made a great tackle, and a fumble recovery because they were sitting next to us. We enjoyed stadium food and the entire ambiance. I stopped short of getting my picture taken with Roar-ee the Columbia mascot but I love that it is another cat team. I can embrace a paw print! 

The College of Performing Arts at The New School has an event a couple times every school year called (Un)Silent Film Night. We were fortunate enough to attend the first one right after we moved here. We have only missed one or two since then and I look forward to attending each time. 

This multi-media event combines live musicians and technology with silent films from the early days of movie making. The College of Performing Arts Theater Orchestra is comprised of students from Mannes School of Music, and the School of Jazz. They perform live scores to the classic silent films. The orchestra is conducted each time by a different guest conductor. 

The most recent presentation featured Mark Gould as conductor of the orchestra performing with the feature film “Modern Times” by Charlie Chaplin. While some of the (Un)Silent Film Nights have featured student composed scores, the music this time was the original music composed by Charlie  Chaplin himself. Also, in the past the films were completely silent, but this movie was Chaplin’s last film and included sound effects and (very little) dialogue. Released in 1936 as many in the movie industry were moving away from the silent films to “talkies”, has a less than subtle edge of social commentary laced with the expected Charlie Chaplin slapstick from his earlier films. 

If you have never attended a movie with live orchestra, you may not know that timing is everything. Each measure has to line up perfectly with what is happening on the screen. The conductor must know the score very well, as he is watching the film as well as leading the orchestra. The Performing Arts Theater Orchestra is always so well prepared you can forget that they are in front of you performing and feel that you are hearing a soundtrack. This time was no exception. There were many opportunities for a missed cue or slightly mistimed sound effect but I did not notice a single one occurring. 

I am so thankful for these opportunities to see pieces of history combined with some of the best student musicians of today. I can’t wait for the next one. 

One of the coolest things about an empty nest is you don’t have to plan for date night. There are no sitters to hire, extra-curricular activities to work around, worries about a child home too long - nothing - we do what we want.

For many years we spent many fall Friday nights and Saturdays with the high school marching band. We loved it and, if we are honest, sometimes miss it. But it didn’t leave a lot of time for just deciding to go do something else at the drop of a hat. Once we moved to NYC, it became much easier to have date nights and days pretty much any weekend we chose, but I still felt better if we planned ahead and alerted Hannah to the fact that we would be gone.  Now in all fairness, Hannah was amazingly self-sufficient and capable of taking care of herself if we decided to go out. She also tended to prefer it when we did. But, I still always had the concern that we left her alone too much, what would she eat, shouldn’t we be home because she had to get up early the next morning. Much to her annoyance I would regularly text her before a show, at intermission, and then we were on our way home. Now, we just go. 

This happened Friday in a completely unplanned turn of events. If the schedule is not too crazy at work, we prefer to start our day with the first half hour of the Kelly and Ryan show. We go over the calendar and what is on the agenda but we also drink some coffee, play the travel trivia game and watch the first guest. Friday was one of the days we had the luxury of doing this. It hasn’t happened for a while so it was particularly enjoyable. The first guest was Caroline Rae - Aunt Hilda on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and a hilarious stand up comedienne. We heard she was performing in the city on Friday night. On a whim, we researched where and when she was performing to find out it was downtown near our office and not outrageously expensive. We decided we had to go see the show so I used my magic box (iPhone) to text Greg to see if he wanted to go too. 

We ended up eating dinner at Hudson Eats which is a food court at Brookfield Place and then took the free shuttle over to the Schimmel Center at PACE. 

I am so glad we did this. The show was hilarious! The title was Middle Rage and her jokes about hitting our middle years hit home so close I don’t think i quit laughing the whole time. While it was definitely an adult show, I appreciate that she doesn’t get so raunchy as to make it uncomfortable and there wasn’t a lot of needless cursing. Trust me, I use and appreciate a well placed cuss word but I hate when a comedian uses them instead of intelligent joke telling. 

The show didn’t go too late into the night (ahhhhh a performer who understands the need for older adults to get to bed Haha) and we had a nice stroll back to Greg’s office to get his briefcase and then a train ride home. I still was home in plenty of time to get up and meet the mamas for a run Saturday morning. 

Could we have done this last year at this time? Yes probably, but it is just nice to know that our adult children are leading their own successful lives and we can do what we want without worrying about them. We count it as a victory of parenting and couldn’t be prouder of both our kids and the fact that we don’t have to obsessively worry about them. (Not gonna lie - there is still always an element of worry just below the surface). 

My Wednesday morning started horribly. After getting teased with some actual cooler weather last weekend, I woke up to go running and it was 75 degrees, humid, hot and DARK! Now I don’t mind running in the dark - that comes with morning running in the fall and winter, but it should not be summer temperatures while I have to do it. I tolerated this stupid heat and humidity for enough months already. I go out for the run anyway one to have it start pouring rain on me half a block from home. This was one of the rare times that I told myself ‘just go one mile” and actually stopped after that mile. In fact, I couldn’t wait for it to be over. 

 I am the first to admit, as much as I hate that I do it, when my morning starts horribly, Greg’s often does too. I am sure it will surprise no one that I am very verbal about my displeasure and discomfort. Let’s just say I married a man with the patience of a saint. 

Thankfully, my mood and the weather improved throughout the day. On our way home from work, we had tickets to go to a themed wine tasting at Some Good Wine on East 8th Street in Manhattan. This month’s theme was Orange Wines. My first thought when I saw it was “I don’t like flavored wines” but I did a little research and found out it isn’t orange flavored wine, but a fermenting process that creates an orange hue in an otherwise white wine. If you are interested in learning more, I found this article to be the most helpful. 

https://winefolly.com/review/orange-wine/

I had been to one wine tasting previously at Some Good Wine, and just as I expected, the vendors on Wednesday night were very well informed about the wines they were serving us so we learned even more as we sampled. I will say that not all of them were orange wines, we definitely tasted a fair smatterings of reds as well, but they all had the regions from which they came, the body of the wine and the fermenting process in common. 

The picture above is of the three we ended up purchasing to fill the wine rack. The one on the right is a sparkling orange wine that was fermented in clay pots. It is very crisp and refreshing. The bottle on the left is a red that we both very much enjoyed. The one is the middle is what I consider to be the most orange wine we bought. It most fits what is described in the winefolly.com article. Greg and I both very much enjoyed this one. I thought it was hilarious because the woman who tasted it right before us did not like it at all. I also really really love this label. 

How could you not love a passionate wine that has pirates and books on the label? 

After we finished, we went to NIIN, a Thai restaurant, for dinner. Our food was so delicious, and it was also beautiful. 

From the top - Spring Rolls, Pineapple Fried Rice, and Shrimp Wraps. The spices in all of these dishes were subtle at first and then fired a kick as you ate. It was nice to just sit dow and relax in a beautiful place, with delicious food (which also was not very expensive). 

This move from College Point Queens to Astoria Queens has not only made our commute to work so much shorter and easier, it has also made it easier to do things in the city on the weekend. For the past couple years I have been avoiding runs that took place in Central Park because it could take me upwards of 2 hours to get there. When the runs starts at 7:00 am or 8:00 am it took too much commitment to get up that early. 

Yesterday I met up with a bunch of the Mamas Run Queens group to run Another Mother Runner’s Motherlode of Miles run organized by Carrie (one of our members). Even with construction delays on our subway line that meant taking a shuttle bus and waiting on the train for 10 minutes once I got to the station, it still only took me 35 minutes to get there. Sweet! This girl’s going to be running in Central Park more often. 

There is almost always beautiful and/or interesting artwork at the southeast entrance to the park. This sculpture is what is currently there. It is called Wind Sculpture SG1 by Yinka Shonibare. I found it to be both beautiful and interesting. 

After almost four years of living in New York City, I have finally run around the iconic Reservoir. While I have done races in the park they do not usually run this path. I can’t wait to go back and do it again. It is so beautiful and there was a glorious breeze off the water. 

We ended the run at La Pain Quotien in the park near the boat pond and Alice in Wonderland statue. This was a great way to kick off the first weekend of fall. 

I was particularly happy to lace up and get out there as the weather was finally a little cooler and a lot less humid. I had also been injured for about a week so there had been a question as to whether I would really be able to participate even if I showed up. I am happy to say there was some achiness but I was able to complete the whole run. I send my love to all the mamas for not judging how stinking slow I am. I especially appreciate Joan for sticking with me the entire distance and Carrie for adding extra miles running back to guide us so we didn’t get lost. 

Last Saturday we took advantage of one of the last beautiful days of summer to get outside, breathe some fresh (non-city) air, and explore somewhere we had never been before. We drove the car out on Long Island to visit Oyster Bay and the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. 

For those who don’t know, Sagamore Hill is the country home of former President Theodore Roosevelt. This home was built on a working farm around just before the turn of the 20th century. it is situated on Oyster Bay which is on the northwest side of Long Island outside of Queens which is considered part of New York City. 

The drive out to the area was surprisingly easy. We had anticipated much more traffic but were very happy to have a mostly stress-free drive. It was particularly nice as we got within about three miles of the site - we began to drive country type roads reminiscent of rural areas with which we are familiar. 

After stopping at the Visitor’s Center we went into Oyster Bay to find some lunch before time for our tour of the home. I was NOT impressed with Oyster Bay itself. There were very few restaurant options and many of them were not open for lunch. We have become very spoiled by having so many options for eating out any time day or night. We ended up buying some Mexican food from a little bodega and taking it back to Sagamore Hill for a picnic. 

The home itself is set up on a hill with a fantastic view of the woods. We gathered on the porch to start our tour and I could have sat there all day. 

Once inside the home (no pictures allowed) it was interesting to me to compare it to the Biltmore Mansion in North Carolina that was constructed around the same time. Here are two of the richest American families of the time (at least on paper) building these opulent, abodes for their families. Both embraced the newest technologies of the day and were prone to extravagance but they really could not have been more different in ambiance. 

Where the Biltmore is full of art, gold, fancy fabrics etc,, Sagamore Hill has a much more homey feel. There are quilts instead of spreads on the beds, there are book stacked in every room and we were told more than once every book was bought with the purpose of reading it. Teddy read one and a half books a day. Edith recorded that every book was purchased because someone had the desire to read it. The Biltmore has a beautiful library but I don’t remember hearing they are were avid readers of the pages. 

Sagamore Hill is also full of many of Roosevelt’s hunting treasures. This is not the place for anyone sensitive to animal conservation issues to visit. There are zebra, bear, lion and cheetah rugs. There is a trash can crafted out of an elephant’s hoof and an inkwell crafted out of a rhino hoof. There are also artifacts from his travels around the world throughout. For being the home of a large family, the rooms were rather small and often children shared space with others. 

As a dedicated journal writer and blogger, I found it interesting to hear that Edith had written faithfully every day about the events of the day before. When she was approaching death, she burned all those pages. When asked why she would do that, she replied “because it is nobody’s d*** business”. Wow, wonder how she would feel about Facebook and Twitter. 

We were not permitted to take pictures in the house. We did follow a nice path through the woods that was put there by the Roosevelts for the purpose of visiting the beach. It is amazing to stop and think about walking through the halls and woods where these famous Americans trod. 

The last part of our visit was to the Old Garden home. This home was build by Teddy Jr and his wife after purchasing the land from his mother. This home has now been converted into a Teddy Roosevelt museum that covers his life, his military career, his presidency and his hunts. I did not know much about him other than general facts learned in school, but came out so much more knowledgeable. 

I have been writing a blog over on Blogger for the past 3.5 years about the transition of moving from rural Ohio to New York City with our younger daughter who was a freshman in high school at the time. Now she has graduated and moved back to Ohio temporarily. Life in New York City has become our norm so there aren’t really a lot of new “impressions” for this Ohio native. However, we have shifted into a whole new realm of our lives - The Empty Nest. We are fortunate enough to live in an amazing city with so much to offer in the ways of culture, sports, history, food etc. I realized while writing the previous blog I really enjoy writing my thoughts about the experiences we have. I also discovered there are more than a few people who like to read what I write. 

So here it is, the next chapter of our lives. We have moved to a new apartment and I’m moving the blog to a new platform. Just like when I started at Blogger I’m sure I will learn to finesse these posts the more of them I write. Mostly I write to keep a journal for myself. I am happy to share my thoughts with those who are interested.

I hope you feel like you are pouring a cup of coffee (or glass of wine) and cozying up on my sofa with me to hear about our latest adventures. 

Welcome!