There Followed a Dark and Gloomy Time
No, well, first there followed the rest of the trip. Which was really, truly, excellent beyond excellent, aside from a cold which sidelined me for a day or two. And the need to keep harping about MG about math homework.
But really! We racked up three seders, many subway and taxi rides, much yummy street food, a circus show (not Barnum & Bailey but a lovely gentle European family circus which was just the right speed for someone recovering from a cold), a stop at Central Park, and visits of varying lengths with three different sets of relatives besides my dad & stepmom. The sun didn't shine every day, but it shone enough. I had some wonderful, sustaining conversations about books and life, and MG enjoyed herself mightily.
But beyond that, every time I got off the subway and came up onto Broadway and Somewhere Above 86th Street, I was happy like a kid holding their baby blanket: that's the neighborhood I was born into and lived in for my first five years, and it feels like home the way no place else in the world does. Every time the #7 train rose up from underground and took that swerve around the corner to reveal a shining view of the skyline across the East River, I felt like I could reach across the past few decades and wave to 17-year-old me, riding home of an evening from her summer job before college, and all the versions of me between then and now who have ridden that train and watched for that view. Heck, every time I visited the basement toilet at my dad's house, I got a hit off all the accumulated family history that old row house holds, right down to the Doonesbury and Sylvia and Kliban cartoon books that have been sitting in that exact spot ever since someone--maybe me--left them there sometime back in the '80's.
So the dark time was after I came back. For a few days. It's better now, though, and I remember again why I like it here too.
Remind me to tell you about the Amerikan Grrl store. It was a story in itself.
But really! We racked up three seders, many subway and taxi rides, much yummy street food, a circus show (not Barnum & Bailey but a lovely gentle European family circus which was just the right speed for someone recovering from a cold), a stop at Central Park, and visits of varying lengths with three different sets of relatives besides my dad & stepmom. The sun didn't shine every day, but it shone enough. I had some wonderful, sustaining conversations about books and life, and MG enjoyed herself mightily.
But beyond that, every time I got off the subway and came up onto Broadway and Somewhere Above 86th Street, I was happy like a kid holding their baby blanket: that's the neighborhood I was born into and lived in for my first five years, and it feels like home the way no place else in the world does. Every time the #7 train rose up from underground and took that swerve around the corner to reveal a shining view of the skyline across the East River, I felt like I could reach across the past few decades and wave to 17-year-old me, riding home of an evening from her summer job before college, and all the versions of me between then and now who have ridden that train and watched for that view. Heck, every time I visited the basement toilet at my dad's house, I got a hit off all the accumulated family history that old row house holds, right down to the Doonesbury and Sylvia and Kliban cartoon books that have been sitting in that exact spot ever since someone--maybe me--left them there sometime back in the '80's.
So the dark time was after I came back. For a few days. It's better now, though, and I remember again why I like it here too.
Remind me to tell you about the Amerikan Grrl store. It was a story in itself.
posted by elswhere | 8:53 PM
2 Comments:
Re-entry is hard--good luck with all the swirling emotions. I'm glad you had a good trip!
And do post about the AG doll--Curious Girl is saving up for one (her cousins each have two now) and I'm ambivalent for many reasons (starting the fact that she never plays with dolls! She usually plays baby with imaginary babies, or with stuffed animals, or occasionally a cloth doll we found in a hospital parking garage. But that kind of doll? Really not her thing.)
Anyway, she is now calling me to come be a character in some play she's organizing, where my choice of characters is Felicity, Ivy, or Julie. We looked at the catalog last week to see how much more money she needed and she's currently pondering her choices.
Way to make the comment box all about me! All of which is a long way around to saying: please do say more about AG.
And welcome home.
Glad you're back! My word thingy says "refun", so I'm guessing you're ready to have fun again!
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