Category: New York City

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Can’t believe it’s November

Cerulean blue sky and brightly lit clouds float along like candy cotton in the air.  Beautiful.  Most of the Aspen are bare now, but it was interesting to me as I drove from Albuquerque to Angel Fire this weekend (following the delightful week in NYC) that many areas along the way are still green.  Kinda weird, but maybe attributable to the rather warm fall here.  While it is a scant 34 degrees here right now (10:31 am) the only sign of coming Winter is the snow on the highest peaks around us.

I loved our time in New York, but I must confess I was ready to come home.  The bright lights and constant sounds of the city made me appreciate the dark skies and silence of home.  Forests of trees in place of forests of buildings is a stark contrast to the way of life we enjoy versus life in The City.  That said, the multitude of choices for dining, shopping and entertainment were certainly refreshing.  Since we had an apartment, we actually enjoyed shopping for groceries and cooking.  The wide variety of produce, deli items and prime aged beef were a gastronomic delight.  We won’t eat that richly again for a who knows how long!

Does make me long for a first class grocer though.  Not that our local market doesn’t try, but the availability of the items is surely a factor.  In New York, imagine it and you’ll find it.  Fresh seafood, Fresh produce, beautiful bakery goods and prime aged meats all carefully laid out in tiny spaces tucked into the corners of vast buildings.  Don’t pay attention as you’re out walking and you might miss it. It’s mind boggling in a way.  Here, there are wide open spaces.  Can’t really walk anywhere and even in urban areas the distances between shopping areas require a car.  You can see for miles.  There, you can see across the street, or down the street, but you have to stand on the coast to see any big distance, or perhaps from the top of the Empire State building or the Sears Tower.  It’s so totally different.  In the end, for me, it’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.  I guess it’s true….

there is no place like home.

 

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Kudos to American Airlines

The best laid plans…or so the saying begins, did not figure in to the equation the secret blessings or the grace and fortitude of some American Airlines employees. The day before the flight, I got an email that said, “Katherine, check in now!”. So I did. Then I went about my routine, getting the gallery ready for that night’s 4th Friday reception. When I got home later that night, I busied myself with finishing the packing and laying out instructions for the house sitter/dog sitter. At 4:45 am, the alarm buzzed. Up and out.

When I eventually got the airport I walked up to the self-serve machine and punched in my AAdvantage number. Up came my reservation and I clicked “check baggage only” since I had already checked in. After the spinning “working” came this message,”Katherine, we have a special offer for you today. Upgrade this flight!” What? Is this right? I’m not Gold, Platinum, or anything like that. Hmm. I did the math. Upgrade, plus get bag checked free. GREAT DEAL! so I clicked yes, slid my American Express card and whammo out came my first class boarding pass. Wahoo! Little did I know how thankful I would be for that, not foreseeing the odyssey that would follow.

As I snuggled in the nice seat in 1st Class I was greeted by a smiling face and the flight attendant said, “I’m Cari, what’s your first name?” “Katherine” I smiled back. I watched as she introduced herself to other passengers and hung coats, then brought us each water or juice. Moments later the Captain said, ” let’s get everyone on and seated, we need to get moving to beat a thunderstorm.” (or something to that effect) and we backed out from the gate a few minutes later at 10:40am. Up, up and up and the announcement came that the usual 1 hr 30 minute flight would take 2 hours or so as we were re-routed around the threatening cell. I settled back, glad for the “Special offer”.

Just so this post won’t go on as long as the rest of the story really took, I’ll summarize. Once we approached DFW we were told the airport was closed. We were told that many other flights were re-routed, but we, unlike them, had “plenty” of fuel so we would circle in a holding pattern for a half hour or so. Then an hour. Then more hours. The flight attendants were busy keeping us occupied, watered, and distracted. Pretty soon, we were all wondering just how many times we could go round that storm. Round and round we went. Still they remained focused, friendly and smiling. Stopping to chat and distract. Then, came the news we were heading to Abilene. No longer fuel full, but now the needle dropped to the point that it was time to fill ‘er up. We had barely come to a full stop when the boxes of granola bars came out and a cabin full of folks were still crunching when we were told that pizza was on the way. It was surely an economic boon for Abilene as plane after plane landed at the small airport. And sure enough, when the gate crew carried on boxes and boxes and boxes of Domino’s Pizza the ringing of the register could surely be heard for miles. And we were happy. Sadly for the few vegetarians and restricted diet folks, it was all pepperoni, but hurrah for the crew of flight 1820 for taking decisive action. Most of us had the first bite in our mouths before the piece was fully in our hands! It was, after all, by this time, about 3:00 in the afternoon. Cell traffic had the towers buzzing as we all tried to call reservations to re-secure our next leg reservations…not that any of us made it through the barrage of calls hitting that number. Might as well wait. And here, during all this time, sat I, in first class.

Gives me chills when I think about it now.

At 4:30, we got the word, and hi-tailed it out of there. As we took off, I could see the line of planes below, waiting their turn. We were first in, and first out.

Since the airport had been shut for hours during this mega nasty thunderstorm, everything was delayed or canceled. Having long ago given up on the 800 number, I walked up to a gate for a flight (not mine) that was headed to NY. The agent looked at my boarding pass and said, “you’re in luck. Your flight is still going. Head to gate C35. You’ve got an hour.” I thanked and noticed as I walked away, that the flight she was working had been canceled. I shook my head inside and smiled as I walked toward the skylink.

At about 7:15, the plane that was previously scheduled to depart at 2:55, turned onto the runway to take off. No longer in first class, but immensely thankful that for the entire lengthy experience in the sky, there I was. Thankful for the great crew of flight 1820, and particularly, Cari (don’t know her last name) and the rest of the crew (and the Captain/Co-Captain) who made the experience worth writing about. I thought I was tired. They were the ones doing all the work!

As we headed for the landing, sweeping across the bright lights of the big city, the gleaming lights of the empire state building, the immense area of the city all aglow, I was struck by how surreal it all was. New York City at midnight, viewed from a few thousand feet and closing, was as beautiful to me as the gazillion stars that twinkle in our own view, in the Moreno Valley of Northern New Mexico. Totally different, but totally beautiful. At 1 am, I rang the bell on the apartment, walked into my husbands arms. The perfect end.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Hello from 32,000 feet!

Wow. this is kind of fun. Never posted from 32,000 feet before…but there’s a first time for lots of fun things! We’re headed to Dallas and about half way through the flight on American Airlines and online with gogo so wahoo! too bad I don’t have my webcam with me! I’m sitting by myself cuz John got upgraded, but there was only one seat, so I urged him to take it. My reward is that I’m on the bulkhead behind him, no one next to me. Smiling.

When we left this morning the overnight rain had left the streets wet and puddled, but the towncar ride was pleasant (little traffic at 7am on a Saturday morning). As we lifted off, the damp haze was still hanging over the city.

Part of me wanted to stay, part of me, ready to go home. Little sleep as my brain churned out the order of the tasks awaiting me. 3 commissions yet unfinished. 2 due by December 1. Parties to plan, budgets to stick too, little funds and lots of bills. Little comfort that it’s not just me.

The sun was shining in so much I couldn’t see the screen. Down comes the shade and, ahh, better now.

So, lets see. I did one small painting that I mentioned in the last post. Never got back to it as the sun came out and beckoned me out to wander the streets. It’s always refreshing to me, to wander through downtown or midtown Manhattan, and just try to count the different languages you hear as conversations float past you. Or to wonder who’s local, who’s visiting and from where? Standing on a corner, waiting for the walk light, a couple walked up and asked me where to catch the bus to Long Island. When I explained I hadn’t a clue, that I was visitor, the gentleman said, “oh, we saw you had eggs and thought you lived here”. It was true, I did have eggs, having just left the grocery. Kind of funny…not knowing who lives there. Even the army of tailored black suits is not a sure indication. Lots of those walking the streets in downtown Manhattan. The apartment we stayed in was a block or two from the NYSE. Two blocks from the Hudson River and a 10 minute walk from Battery Park in one direction and the South Street Pier in the other. Fun.

We searched google for an Italian Restaurant and it found 243 in our “neighborhood”. How fun is that? Sushi, Indian, Italian, Irish Pubs on every corner and limos, towncars and the suited drivers stood all in a line on Friday nights. Delmonico’s a four minute walk.

Oh, and they were filming a movie right outside the apartment. That was amazing to watch. Cameras moving along on lines hung for blocks and held up by giant cranes. Lines and lines of equipment rental trucks and vans, and street after street blocked off to traffic…except that the thousands of people who walk everywhere, still did, and so did we. Some of us almost bumping into each other for looking up up up at the wire and camera gliding along it. Definitely fun.

Though I got off to a rather rough start, (lots of rain, over stressed and over tired), in the end, my shoulders are lower, and while I’m not looking forward to the 32 degrees my desktop tells me it is at home, or the snow that I hear (thanks, Jen) is still on the ground, I’m setting my mind on the paintings I need to finish and coming holidays (they’ll be here before we blink). so, I’ll order a glass of wine, recline my seat and smile!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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hey from The City

New York, New York. What’s this country bumpkin with a City Girl heart doing here? Well, lots.

I know it’s been a while since I posted. My head down, my heart heavy, my vision blurry, kept me from posting. Mostly, I was exhausted. Letting all the stuff going on, get to me. It was time to run away.

Of course, just in time, husband got work in NYC. Wahoo! (for the work) Wahoo! (it’s NYC) and Wahoo! (I get to go!) So…I came. Mostly. In my head was churning all of the things I would do, what I would post, how much fun that would be.

When we were sitting on a plane, John turns to me and says, “you got the power for your laptop, right?”

Reality slapped me in the head. Uh-oh. Even as I said, “um. no” my head was spinning with how to solve it.

Good grief. What an air head. Well, at the risk of stating the obvious, clearly, solve it I did, and thank you, Tracy and Angel Fire Resort and Amy!

Yesterday it poured rain all day. Not like it rains in Angel Fire, with a heavy burst of two inch diameter rain drops followed by double rainbows and bright cerulean blue skies….no, the walls of solid drizzle that get you wet through and through…especially if you forgot the umbrella, too.

Ok, so I did a small “Pan Pastel” on Artist Panel (it looks about 6 x 6 (inches) to me. Not sure how I’ll get it home. hmmm. At least I made here with the pan pastel, the paper and panels and the tools. Geee, where was my head?

In the rain, (which day?)I wound the streets from the apartment provided by the company John is working for (Learning Tree) to find “ground zero”. We’ve been here a few times since 9/11…but I’d never screwed up the guts to go look. This time, I decided, it was way past time. So, in the rain, I went. By the time I went out, the rain was more of a mist.

I was struck by the slow weep of the heavens as I climbed the stairs to the viewing bridge. I had my camera…but I took no photos. The striking emptiness of the gaping hole in the skyline is clearer even on the ground. There is much going on there, all kinds of construction. They had apparently just poured concrete, and it was all covered in giant tarps to protect it from the rain. It looked like giant grave cloth to me. I stood there for quite a while, letting it all soak in. My mind took me back to when I stood looking in the glassed in rooms at Auschwitz. How is it different, really? I wondered. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I shuddered, and headed back down the stairs.

That was actually on Tuesday. Yesterday was much wetter. I went out in search of groceries, got lost, gave up and found my way back to the apartment soaking wet and wishing I’d not gone out.

Today is much brighter, and after a good night’s sleep (finally!) I ventured out in the chilly morning air and found the 17th St. Pier and all the shops there. They were not open yet, so it was quiet, and the seagulls were dive-bombing in the Hudson River, the morning sun lighting up the skyscrapers like gleaming diamonds. I looked at the river and wondered how incredulous it must have been to watch an airplane land on it not so long ago. I looked at the Brooklyn bridge and watched all the cars and people going this way and that. I watched as a few old men came together and began their Tai Chi. Slowly, the seaport began to wake up. Buses pulled in and unloaded their riders in front of the ticket booth for ferries to Ellis Island, Staten Island and other destinations. Cafe and store owners cleaned windows and floors and unstacked tables and chairs, preparing to open. It made me think of home and the commonality of owning your own business and all that means.

I bought a cup of coffee and warmed up a bit while I watched the progress of the South Street Seaport opening up for business.

Once warmed, all open I wandered through the shops at the pier, then wandered across to Fulton and Front pedestrian shopping area where I found a great (really cute) sweater for $29 and two nice dress shirts for John …two for $40. I found alot of other great stuff too, but I didn’t buy it.

By then, I’d been wandering the streets for 4 hours and my feet were telling me to go home, which I did. So now we’re caught up. I hear there’s a good bit of snow at home. I’m really glad I cleared out the garage and pulled the truck in. Think I’ll relax for a bit…if I can remember how to do that!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM