October 26, 2014
Our Sunday Night Hello from NYC…
The winners were being announced as Penelope and I attended our first official event here in NYC, The Inwoof Halloween Contest. Cute little Daisy with the leather cap and pirate sweater didn’t win in the judges eyes, but Penelope sure caught the attention of Daisy’s. How can a dog not like any other kind of dog breed but Cavaliers? Can they really tell the difference? Daisy evidently can and if she were a judge, she would of chosen Penelope, who came as herself, for she had outgrown her bee costume from last year. Most of the dogs had shed their costumes by the time the prizes were given and soon after, we were off running out the gate, straight over to the farmer’s market. Penelope’s prize was soon found as she carried around a shrunken green something or other. Her prize might have been an apple I would guess, but there are so many strange vegetables I don’t recognize that it could of easily been anything.
The kid, Miss Penelope, is being real easy on me. She is starting to signal her need for a bathroom break in ways that I am starting to take notice. I caught her sitting by the front door all nice and dainty, doing all she could, but clear her throat, to tell me to come on mom, time to go! Like right now licking my hand as I’m trying to type and playing with her pawsies on the keyboard as I bat it away, then she immediately puts it right back thinking its a game. There comes a time in the evening when I can’t put off taking Penelope out for her “nigh, nigh pee” or I just get too grumpy and it is way too quiet on the streets. If I try to wait as long as I can at night, then her morning pee time is not so urgent to where I can do my business before she needs to go. See, it’s all about timing. It sure is different raising an apartment dog over our days of spoiling with a doggie door and a backyard.
A couple of nights ago, no sooner had we stepped out from our entryway onto the sidewalk, there they were, a silky white schnauzer and a young man hidden beneath his baseball cap. Both of us were wrapped up in our dark blue sweat jackets doing the last pit stop of the day with our kids. I soon got to know him as Marcus. We walked and talked as he shared all sorts of good advice about winter care for Penelope with the salt and snow hazards for her paws and how I should get myself a pair of Uggs. He swears by his pair. He also suggested a trail for us right past the train station that takes you alongside the East River where Bette Midler supposedly put a boat house. Is all we have to do is just keep walking two blocks past the best all around pizza place,(he has known of them and their pizza since he was 3!) and the path is right there.
I came to learn that Marcus works with private clients who have autistic teens, as a teacher, helping(change behaviors) to prep them for public schools. Two of his clients one being Robert De Niro’s son, Elliot and another who wrote a book about autism and was invited to the White House to meet President Obama. Even though he lives in a building behind us, he walked us back and no sooner did he appear, he disappeared. I turned to look back, no sign of them anywhere. I thought about all the unique people I am meeting and he definitely is one of them. By the way, we tried out the trail today. I can’t get over how I can walk a few blocks in any direction just about and land at different parks where there are plenty of woodsy type trails. A comment I made upon my last day in Arizona was that I hoped to find a place to live that is by a park. Well…who knew…4 parks!
One of Penelope’s NY essentials was put to the test. The roar of the trains, the enclosure of the black little case, and the rocking back and forth as I carried her, didn’t seem to jar Penelope as I took her on her biggest adventure yet since we’ve been to NY. It was her first subway ride. I have been biting at the bit ever since I bought that carrier to officially use it. Poor Peeps, with all I have put her through and will continually, I’m sure of. Anyway, like a proud momma, I continue to take pictures of all her firsts.
Penelope came along as I revisited the Upper West Side(UWS), strolling along 89th street to Riverside Park, down along the Hudson, conversing with the ladies who attend the community garden and others, as I gazed back in time, reminiscing from my first visit here. A different feel, not as a star struck lover, as I once was, but more as if it all is becoming a part of me now. Some of the places we passed by, being just as they were, etched in my memory, others as if looking into and through a completely different lens. My heart leaped with bounds of joy and pride of our accomplishment as I walked and carried Miss P about.
I’m still wide eyes with wonder as cute lil tykes conversations continue on the cross town bus ride. This last one was about how many times a day this little guy believes he cries. Holding up, four fingers he said, ”Maybe I cry this many times a day. I skip my cry, if I cry 1, I don't cry 2 or 3 and I cry 4.” His nanny gave him a look as if saying are you sure that’s all? I actually rode on a bus where the driver had to tell people at the stop to wait for the next bus. We were too full AND It was! I had to giggle out loud one day, when our bus became a dam in the middle of the 5th Ave. intersection, with miles of cars and taxi’s jammed up honking like mad on one side and looking over my other shoulder at the open glory of 5th Ave. These buses must have an invisible bumper guard all the way around them. The way these huge boats maneuver through tight spaces and streets is miraculous. I just sit back and enjoy the ride.
I’m finding which part of the train platform to stand on that will get me a good seat on the train, quickest direction to walk getting out of the subway, how to stand in a line during rush hour times in order to load a bus, timing the walk signal at intersections for crossing the streets, to how much to load on my Metro Card for the week, all in all as others move about robotically, I just keep my light shinning while enjoying the rhythm of the big city.
Learning how to navigate your way through and in NYC is like an obstacle course, maybe not for the faint of heart, but as with anywhere, you listen and get a feel for the language of it, marvel at its magnificence, and you will find innumerable treasures all around. Yes, I’m still finding my “Pennies from Heaven”, meeting new people and filling up my calendar with events that pop up. The following week coming up is a big week for me as more things keep popping up. Everyday presents new possibilities, new adventures…even to having cocktails and dinner with a group of women after work one night this week. The newness of NYC is wearing off, but the thunder in my being is loud and strong knowing that as this moving into the city chapter closes the next one is already beginning.
The phone calls, messages, and new connections are so appreciated, even the calls I get with tears from missing me, just know sometimes your goodbyes leave me in tears too.
Big hugs and doggy kisses from NY,
Jane and Penelope
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