Tag: wordless wednesday

People’s Climate March – Wordless Wednesday

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Joined hundreds of thousands on Sunday after church to march.IMG_6877.JPG

These ladies from Code Pink were there — looking awesome and fiesty femininsty gorgeous. Their message? War is not green. Yes. IMG_6876.JPGAnd tons of kids. And patient parents. We had to wait on 72nd Street for about an hour before we could feed in to the march. IMG_6849.JPGHere we are passing by Columbus Circle. It felt like the march opened up here and we could look around. All the humanity. IMG_6854.JPGI like their sign that said, “We have solutions.” It wasn’t just a march where people pointed out the problems. Although there was some of that. Vegans educated us on the reality that cows are a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. IMG_6842.JPGThere was a lot of music. But, as in any march, my favorite is “We shall overcome!” I melt when I hear that at a march. IMG_6857.JPG

There were a lot of young people. We all walked for hours. So fun. IMG_6859.JPG

Biking Adventure

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my view while teaching. And the shadow of my students
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This is an awesome place to explore.
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Along the West Side bikeway
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Around the uptown Fairway
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The George Washington Bridge and the little red lighthouse creep up on you

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The detour under the highway

Yesterday I took a long bike ride, from where I was teaching — around Central Park and 77th to 180th and Broadway for my girlfriends’ craft club.

I took the bikeway. Around the uptown Fairway, I had to detour under the West Side Highway.

Like when I run, when I ride, I am not fast. That gives me time to talk to myself. And time to think. Too often, I scold myself. So last night, I was trying just to be. Just to notice.

Notice the generosity of the Hudson River. Notice the crazy summer flowers that refuse to believe summer is almost over.

Coming back home, in the complete dark, I did not have so much fun. Many places along the path are pitch black and I don’t have a light. I need more light.

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Foggy

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This morning, I felt I lived in San Francisco as I walked in Riverside Park. The fog made everything quiet.

The muted fall colors and the sun somewhere behind the fog made me feel so good. So peaceful.

There is something sad, inevitable, beautiful about autumn in New York.

 

Maybe the bittersweet beauty is the reason writers write songs about New York this time of year. 

Wedding in Central Park

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imageThis wedding party was traipsing around Bethesda Fountain. Every time, I’ve chillaxed here with my kids or my friends, brides and grooms and wedding parties have been soaking in the magic of this Central Park spot too, guarded over by the Angel of the Waters.

I’ve written about The Angel Above Us a few months back. She is a part of it all, yet she is above it all too. She is about to take off, yet she’s firmly rooted in place. Oh, to be an angel and watch the whole passing parade.

I’d heard that this section of the park was supposed to be a quiet zone. Yet a few weeks ago, the break dancers had music blasting, the little dogs were yapping, and all of the world’s languages were coinciding, right here at the center of Central Park in New York City.

And now you know why I called this blog My Beautiful New York.

The Pedestrian Bridge

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I’d seen the walkway across the Hudson at Poughkeepsie every time I took Amtrak upstate. I wanted to walk the longest pedestrian bridge at 1.25 miles, but never thought I’d make it to Poughkeepsie. But I did (the night before, I’d had dinner at the CIA).

On a Friday afternoon in August, I realized my dream: I strolled the promenade.

I always hope for a big epiphany when I walk. But from 300 feet above the Hudson, all I noticed was the beauty of the river that runs both ways. I noticed the fluffiness of the clouds. And I noticed that other people walk at their own pace. Maybe those are epiphanies.

Nice wide walkway. You can bike across too!
People of all ages walk across the bridge.

Yoga in Times Square

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Times Square never seemed Namaste to me. Times Square is a moving place, a kaleidoscope of tourists snapping pics, of flashing billboards, of the Naked Cowboy, of friendly police officers on horseback, of quick pickpockets.

Times Square is a place to hustle through or be hustled in. But it is never chill.

Until yesterday. On my way to breakfast I passed this. How awesome.

Hundreds and hundreds of people doing yoga together in Times Square. And here they are moving from downward dog to cobra. The yogis centered the shifting kaleidoscope. They slowed the hustle. They brought inner peace. Then they picked up their mats and hustled on.
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Flowers in Riverside Park

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Sometimes I don’t really feel like getting going in the morning. I’m in a groove with my writing and I don’t feel like waking the kids or setting their cereal on the kitchen table (I know, I know, they’re spoiled and they should do that themselves).

To cheer myself up, I think, “Hey, you’ll get to ride past the flowers in Riverside Park.”

There is no garden lovelier. It was the backdrop for the reunion scene in the movie, You’ve Got Mail.

When they were making that movie, I rode by on my bike. I stopped to watch them set up the shot. They were adding fake flowers throughout the garden. They were covering up the vents.

I chatted with the designer who was dressing the garden.

“Why are you adding more to the garden? It’s so lush.”

The designer agreed, “But we have to because we want things to be blooming in there that wouldn’t be blooming in there all together this time of year.”

That’s Hollywood for you, messing with nature.
When the movie came out, the garden did look good. Almost as good as it looked today.

Big Flowers on Park Avenue

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We were heading to the North Meadow in Central Park to watch a Little League game. The North Meadow is an oasis where white-petaled trees grow out of Ice Age rocks.
We saw these whimsical sculptures in the middle of Park Avenue.
It was hard to get a good picture from the cab window. I said to the girls, "That's New York for you. Look around you. Something new and beautiful every day."

The Sweetest Corner in the City

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On one corner there is Magnolia Bakery. Aross the street one way is BookMarc, a Mark Jacobs bookstore.
Kittycorner is Marc Jacobs store. Always with the trendy windows.
And just because this is my blog and I can post whatever I want. Last weekend in Washington DC, my sister and I went out to breakfast and I ate this waffle. The strawberry was cut like a rose. Yummy.

Downcast

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This is me. I saw the snow this morning. I was downcast.
I tried to remember that it is Spring.
It was only Sunday. I had seen crocuses in Riverside Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday the crocuses were wildly happy to be alive. Today they are downcast.