It’s fun to visit different places and experience different kinds of things and see how people live in different ways. In New York City, in November, there were all sorts of different and new things.
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- I’ve complained to Kevin, my Pepsi connection, about how hard it is to find diet Sierra Mist in smaller quantities (not a big 2-liter). In Waco, impossible, but I see them when I’m in New York, and they’re even available on airplanes!
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- In Bryant Park (usually a nice, big green space close to the Main Public Library, the one with the lions), they’ve made a Christmas Village and put in a skating rink! But, this is mainly a photo of Jeremy and Sarah, watching the skaters.
Central Park-We wanted to go to the Cooper Hewett Museum, a design museum. But, it was closed for renovations and not due to re-open until December 12. So, we went and looked at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir instead.
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- The largest body of water in Central Park is the Reservoir. When you see people in movies and television programs jogging around a big body of water in New York, it’s probably the Reservoir.
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- We didn’t realize that there are specific places where the runners are supposed to stay and where the walkers are supposed to stay.
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- And that you’re only supposed to travel in one direction. I wonder if the park police give tickets for going the wrong way. JoAnne thinks they might.
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art
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- The first time JoAnne and I went to New York, she very much wanted to see this painting. We searched and searched, and finally found George Washington, Crossing the Delaware. Here she is, taking it all in, back in 2002..
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- Here’s a school group we saw on this trip, learning about the same painting. We were startled to learn that it’s a reproduction, and the orginal is in storage. And that’s JoAnne, sitting on the bench on the right, in the white jacket.
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- The children in the book *From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler* bathe in a fountain in the center of the restaurant (at night, when the museum was deserted). When we compared the map of the 1968 Met with the present-day Met, we found that the restaurant has been replaced with a display area. We went and JoAnne asked a museum worker if there was a fountain in there. “Oh, yes,” he said, pointing. We went and found that the large fountain with statues from the past has been replaced with this one. Not quite the same.
Unusual things
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- On the second level of Grand Central Terminal, there’s an Apple store. Seriously. I’ve been there. Twice. I don’t know when they took this photo. I guess in the middle of the night, when there aren’t too many people traveling and the Apple Store is closed. But in the middle of the day, there are shoppers and store personnel, all engrossed in the latest things Apple.
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- Jeremy and I were walking from a Barnes & Noble, to meet Sarah at the Museum of Natural History, to see the parade balloons being inflated. It was 37 degrees and drizzling, and Jeremy slammed to a halt and said, with a little bit of wonder, “That’s a Banksy.” He thought that because of the style, but also because it has been protected, and because, as a graphic designer, he knows about these things. I, as a person out of that particular loop, did not. There’s a link at the end of this post, if you need more information.
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- We were walking down the street and saw this, and JoAnne turned and said, “I *have* to do this!” We’d never seen a Cupcake ATM before. She ordered (and paid for) a chocolate chip peanut butter cookie, and, poof, out it came!
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me
Matthew 25:35 (NRSV)
I’ve found most New Yorkers to be kind and welcoming, and patient. Yes, lots of folks are in a hurry, focused on where they are needing to be. And, OK, maybe they’re not quite as in-your-face friendly as folks where I come from. But whenever I’ve looked confused or seemed to need help, someone has stepped up. Like the woman at the bottom of a flight of subway stairs, who, when I stopped to take a breath after a flight or two, before climbing up one more, asked, “Do you need help?” “No, thanks,” I said. “Are you sure?” “Yes, I just need to rest a moment.” “Okay,” she said, stepping back. But she stayed watching, until I was all the way up.
Fascinated with your mini-tour of your New York trip. Also enjoyed learning about Banksy!
Let’s go back, soon! Maybe there’s an underground tour of Banksy’s work!