Traves Tangents

  “Let’s go for a hike” said Huw “That sounds great” I said. “There’s a little bit of an incline, and the last 100 yards is a bit steep”. “That’s fine” I trilled. Brace yourself dear Reader….he lied! At this point I decided he wasn’t getting a Christmas present… …by the time we got here I’d rescinded the Christmas card. I said that I’d have to ascend this bit like Gollum. “But Gollum was lithe” responded Huw. But he was right… …the view… …was worth it. And he even helped me back down.

My last day in Brooklyn today, so I went to the seaside… …for a walk along the boardwalk…  …. at Coney Island. As has often been the case on this leg of the trip… …it all felt surreal, like I was on a film set. Back to Colorado, and on to New Mexico next, possibly with feline companion!

  Today I took the Staten Island Ferry so I could see the Statue of Liberty from the water. I found her every bit as surreal and beautiful as you would expect. It brought to mind the beginning of Kafka’s unfinished novel ‘Amerika’: ‘…sunshine seemed to illumine the Statue of Liberty…the arm…rose up as if newly stretched aloft’. Then I did a Statue of Liberty impersonation. The ice-cream cost $8. I nearly fainted! 

  The best thing about my (previous) job is knowing that in a tiny way, I made a positive difference to ‘my’ students time at university. It’s such a privilege to ‘watch them fly’. Yesterday, I had an invitation to celebrate Passover with one of my ‘chicks’, and her lovely parents.  That meant I had to catch a train… …which was no hardship… …as it gave me the chance to visit the glory of Grand Central Station. It made my heart sing to spend time with Hannah… …and join her family and friends for an unconventional Seder ❤️.

I took myself off to Manhattan today. These sweet parrots are in the Metro station for the Natural History Museum. I was off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so I took a little walk… …through Central Park. Then to the Met… …which is a very… …impressive… …building, full of beautiful things. There’s so much too see.. …that I limited myself… …to just a few… …amazing things. Then I returned home… …for a well deserved rest.

 I woke up feeling awful today, and it took me a few hours to work out why. I’d planned to share this part of the trip with a dear friend who died at the end of January. This message on the side of the Brooklyn Public Library really spoke to me. I beguiled my sorrow with a trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, somewhere we’d planned to visit. There Spring has… …well and truly sprung. It nourished my heart… …to walk in the garden and think of him. It’s cherry blossom 🌸 time… …and the joy and excitement under the trees was palpable. I was able to savour the joy of new life… …renewal… …whilst holding on to the valuable… …precious memories of the past.