On a typical roadtrip, I like to get as far away from "civilization" as possible. The more remote the campsite, the fewer the people, the wilder the country, the better. Boy, did I make a wrong turn somewhere! This latest trip included a week-long stay with my son in New York City. I'm not saying I didn't have a great visit, because I did, I'm just saying this was not a typical roadtrip.
Van does not like the city so he was happy to stay in the driveway of good friends of ours in Katonah, about an hour north of NYC. The Stanleys have been friends of my parents since I was just a few weeks old, when my father was in the army, stationed in Oklahoma. They have a beautiful home in a beautiful little town where they very graciously offered me both a place to leave Van, but also, a cozy room and great company to return to after my city visit. They gave me rides to and from the train station, which I used to get in to the city.
Dan, my son, met my train at Grand Central Station. He taught me how to purchase and use a MetroCard, an essential to traveling the subway system, then we rode back to his apartment in Queens. He and his fiancee, Caitlin, live in a great eleventh-floor apartment with excellent views of the Queensborough Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and a tiny bit of the East River.
My previous visits to NYC have been rather structured and supervised; I almost always traveled with someone who knew what they were doing and where they were going. This trip was different; Caitlin was out in California on a business trip and Dan was working long hours. Although we did a little sightseeing together, notably, a trip to a Staten Island tapas restaurant, most of our visiting was in his apartment before or after he went to work.
When Dan was at work, I was on my own. I wandered around the city, sometimes with a destination in mind, other times just to walk and explore. I bought groceries and brought them home on the subway. Don't laugh, I've lived all over the world, but this was a first for me. I spent a lot of time sitting on park benches, watching people and eating food from street vendors. I explored the main library and Central Park. I shopped, both for real and window-shopping, and basically, just did whatever I wanted when I wanted. It was an extremely relaxing way to visit an anything but relaxing, city.
One of my favorite activities was taking photos of the changing cityscape from the balcony of the apartment. I watched the sun rise and set over the city and watched fronts move in and out, including one which brought a tornado with it. On the anniversary of 9-11, I saw the lights on the Empire State Building change to red, white and blue, and the twin beams of light shining from Ground Zero.
I experienced the crush of the crowds, heard the constant noise of the trains and traffic, saw the towering buildings and bridges, and everywhere, saw nature. Most of what I saw just hinted at people's craving for the natural world, such as roof-top gardens and the elaborate green space of Central Park. Other nature sightings, such as the wild turkey wandering in a children's playground near the Staten Island ferries and the hawks soaring in the thermals above the buildings, spoke of the ability of wild things to adapt to human surroundings.
Most impressively though, were the great rivers surrounding the city and the skies above. The rivers travel past the same shores as they have been since before there ever was a city or people to give them names. The skies, with their roaring winds and thunder and beautiful bolts of lightning flashing from building top to building top, showed me how small even our greatest city is. No matter how intelligent or important we think we are, no matter how great our civilizations may be, compared to the powers of nature, we are insignificant. In the end, nature always wins.
