Friday morning in New York: Watching people work

There are days when New York seems to me a magical place, when I recover that sense of wonder that I used to have when I was visiting rather than living here. There are days, now that I live here, when it seems like a sad, lonely place. And there are days like today when it is both.

I wasn't in the best mood this morning.* Nothing too serious, but, you know, one of those grey days in my mind at least. I decided to go the gym around 10 am. It was a sunny, mild day. Most office workers had already rushed off to work, but everyone on the street still seemed purposeful: movers, the local grocers, restaurant food deliveries. But then as I look again I saw others talking their strides more slowly. A woman walking her dogs. An older woman being rolled a long in her wheelchair by her nurse. Some tourists with a camera.

And my eyes open a bit wider . I breathe in the mix of commerce and charm of the New York street, and I am happy to be here.

* * *

* I wrote this post a few Fridays ago, but didn't get a chance to post it until now.

I've realized that time is flying by these days. I post and then tell myself I'll put up a new post in a few days and then I realize that a week or more has gone by. Perhaps it is the days of undifferentiated grey we've been having recently. But that's not true, since Friday it was beautifully sunny. Perhaps it is that feeling of late winter, when you wish spring would come. And it comes for a day, teasing and tantalizing, only to disappear again and be replaced by the cold disdain of a late winter storm.

Perhaps it's the realization that the break I've been longing for - some travel, time away from work and without always worrying about the next work message to land in my inbox with a thud - will not come any time soon.

Perhaps it is existential. [Insert and delete lengthy ruminative paragraph here.]

* * *

But then any city, any place, has its rhythm, the ups and downs, the lulls and doldrums, and the peaks and thrills. And if I am waiting for the sun, then I am happy to wait for it here.

BB