Before she left for home yesterday, Jamie bonded with a homeless man in a wheelchair who is allowed to sleep in the window of the Immigrant Bank on my block- like a guard, except no gun and he is tied to his wheelchair!. She was able to get a muffin to him through the late-night deposit slot and he responded with a picture he’d drawn of his home under the Brooklyn Bridge. New York continues to surprise.
It has been great having the family. . Buster-Charley (dba Barley) did amazingly well on the subways, especially since we learned to ignore the alarms that sound when you push his stroller through the emergency entrances and exits vs. our initial attempts to hand him over the gates that paying customers use. It’s fun, too, to gain street cred with gang members who also favor the free entry system.
All the restaurants I picked for dinner for Katey, Tom, Jamie, Barley and I were clear winners, except our last night (Monday) at Swifty’s on the very snooty Upper East Side. Very cramped and it seemed like we might have been the first non-regulars- and first visitors without a direct connection to the Mayflower- in many years. As Katey noted, it was our first meal ever in near total silence, as we all waited for Charley to erupt- he was crammed in his portable basket device between Tom and Jamie. The maitre d perfected raising his eyebrow and glowering at the sleeping child every time he passed our table- a dare of sorts- but Buster never stirred. (We still got kicked out, though, when Jamie interrupted the Henry Kissinger type gentleman at the next table to ask for gum during his hilarious theatre anecdote
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Buster takes New York
Two or more memorable things happened yesterday as Katey, Tom, Jamie and Buster dba Charley and I made our way around the City:
(i) I had almost given up on our gaining admission to Gramercy Square Park- the private park in the neighborhood that denies keys to all but long-time residents whose houses border the Park and guests of the Gramercy Park Hotel. As we walked by at the start of the day's adventures, there were two lucky Hotel dwellers waiting inside the Park for a bell-hop to come and free them. (That's how it works).We jumped into action, and pleaded for admission, imploring the sympathetic fellow to bend the rules and explaining that Charley's dream since birth was to be pushed across the Park in his Pram. It worked and we got into "the Garden of Eden" without the preliminaries. What a great place!
(ii) A further Gramercy Square Park story;
Once inside, I convinced Tom Treloar to stick his head into a hole in the giant,ancient Oak tree that shades the surroundings and there was a squirrel nestled inside, sound asleep- Like a Chip & Dale cartoon. I realize that people may doubt this story, but Pictures will be attached to a future blog, because Tom took two snapshots (true)- one of the little creature's eyes slowly opening and the second of our furry frend scampering toward Tom's face.
More Park stories if we ever get in again.
Clay and Buster
(i) I had almost given up on our gaining admission to Gramercy Square Park- the private park in the neighborhood that denies keys to all but long-time residents whose houses border the Park and guests of the Gramercy Park Hotel. As we walked by at the start of the day's adventures, there were two lucky Hotel dwellers waiting inside the Park for a bell-hop to come and free them. (That's how it works).We jumped into action, and pleaded for admission, imploring the sympathetic fellow to bend the rules and explaining that Charley's dream since birth was to be pushed across the Park in his Pram. It worked and we got into "the Garden of Eden" without the preliminaries. What a great place!
(ii) A further Gramercy Square Park story;
Once inside, I convinced Tom Treloar to stick his head into a hole in the giant,ancient Oak tree that shades the surroundings and there was a squirrel nestled inside, sound asleep- Like a Chip & Dale cartoon. I realize that people may doubt this story, but Pictures will be attached to a future blog, because Tom took two snapshots (true)- one of the little creature's eyes slowly opening and the second of our furry frend scampering toward Tom's face.
More Park stories if we ever get in again.
Clay and Buster
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Jamie visits her friends in the East Village and brings Dad along
Jamie flew in last night and we didn't dawdle long before walking downtown to "Avenue C", site of the festive "Sunburnt Cow" in the lower East Village. Part of the fun was walking past "community gardens" that the local residents use to turn around their drug-addled lives by working in locked, gated off plots of land to no real purpose. Recycling is encouraged, with posted requests for "composte" - that term specificaly including coffee grounds and wigs. Wigs!
We met the Lost Boys- Eastern division- at the Summit Bar, boardering the Sunburnt Cow, which Tom Wasson and his chums seem to have the run of. They are an energetic group of young lads who live six stories above the Bar, and surprised Jamie and me by making their entrance onto the back patio via the building's fire escape.
Besides Tom, we had drinks with John Palladino, and Sebastian, both from Spokane, and "Guy" who works for the Huffingtn Post. Afterwards we climbed the winding front stairs and celebrated still being alive with shots of a mysterious, gray Mexican liquor that Tom apparently keeps on hand for such occasions. Then John and Sebastian played a soccer game in the 4 x 5 foot apartment and Jamie and I fled for dinner in Chinatown at "The Fat Radish".
Tom and his friend Maggie will babysit Charley tomorrow night if they pass Katey's written quiz and also answer three Dr. Seuss riddles.
Clay
We met the Lost Boys- Eastern division- at the Summit Bar, boardering the Sunburnt Cow, which Tom Wasson and his chums seem to have the run of. They are an energetic group of young lads who live six stories above the Bar, and surprised Jamie and me by making their entrance onto the back patio via the building's fire escape.
Besides Tom, we had drinks with John Palladino, and Sebastian, both from Spokane, and "Guy" who works for the Huffingtn Post. Afterwards we climbed the winding front stairs and celebrated still being alive with shots of a mysterious, gray Mexican liquor that Tom apparently keeps on hand for such occasions. Then John and Sebastian played a soccer game in the 4 x 5 foot apartment and Jamie and I fled for dinner in Chinatown at "The Fat Radish".
Tom and his friend Maggie will babysit Charley tomorrow night if they pass Katey's written quiz and also answer three Dr. Seuss riddles.
Clay
Sunday, May 22, 2011
New York
Here are some things I've noticed in New York during my brief, initial stay:
(i) Of the two dapper looking Italian guys at the Mailaino Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel, one was wearing a blindfold-(true)- with a variety of full and half-full wine glasses on their table. The bartender's guess- purely speculation- was that he was slowly going blind and trying to adapt gracefully or else they were having a "blind" tasting;
(ii) A lady carrying her odious, squirming tiny dog up to Communioin with her at St. Francis Xavier at Saturday night Mass;
(iii) You should pay attention to which is the washer and which is thedryer if you're foolish enough to try to clean your clothes at an unfamilar apartment.
And- try to find a neighborhood bar as great as Pete's Tavern- 1 block from my apartment, where O'Henry wrote "Gift of the Magi". The Owner offered to let me plug my "I-Pod" into his jukebox! One of the best jukeboxes of our era though not quite as good as the one at Pritchard, Idaho.
(i) Of the two dapper looking Italian guys at the Mailaino Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel, one was wearing a blindfold-(true)- with a variety of full and half-full wine glasses on their table. The bartender's guess- purely speculation- was that he was slowly going blind and trying to adapt gracefully or else they were having a "blind" tasting;
(ii) A lady carrying her odious, squirming tiny dog up to Communioin with her at St. Francis Xavier at Saturday night Mass;
(iii) You should pay attention to which is the washer and which is thedryer if you're foolish enough to try to clean your clothes at an unfamilar apartment.
And- try to find a neighborhood bar as great as Pete's Tavern- 1 block from my apartment, where O'Henry wrote "Gift of the Magi". The Owner offered to let me plug my "I-Pod" into his jukebox! One of the best jukeboxes of our era though not quite as good as the one at Pritchard, Idaho.
Friday, May 20, 2011
First day
Jamie convinced me that a blog was the best way to remember my near month in the Big Apple, but all day long it's felt like a high school research project hanging over my head. Now I'm on the floor of my apartment-braving carpet mites- because-all assurances to the contrary- I have no wireless connection without the foot long "Ethernet" cord attached to the bottom of my TV.
My 18th street place is great-about 8 steps up from a fairly quiet side street and 5 strong locks on the door. When I got back from diinner last night about 10:30, two young student types (non-thugs) were sitting on my "stoop" in a serious discussion. They greeted me as I went inside and before I finished with the final lock, one of them told the other: "If I hadn't been drunk when I met her, I wouldn't be getting maried now" - to a sympathetic nod from his friend. If Carol were here, she'd still be pouring out advice to the poor guy.
My 18th street place is great-about 8 steps up from a fairly quiet side street and 5 strong locks on the door. When I got back from diinner last night about 10:30, two young student types (non-thugs) were sitting on my "stoop" in a serious discussion. They greeted me as I went inside and before I finished with the final lock, one of them told the other: "If I hadn't been drunk when I met her, I wouldn't be getting maried now" - to a sympathetic nod from his friend. If Carol were here, she'd still be pouring out advice to the poor guy.
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