Weekend in NYC (Part 1)

On Saturday, we drove down to New York to take some furniture to Anja's new loft. This was my first time ever in the Big Apple.

Not a bad drive from Boston. Anja has just moved into a loft in Brooklyn (Williamsburg area). She says this neighborhood she's in is the new artists' hangout (since wherever they were before got too expensive I guess). So this bombed out looking warehouse is just chock full of studios and lofts. And a few musicians, including a terrible drummer who must practice until after midnight. And a whole lot of college-age kids. So basically, the place is like a college dorm -- without the supervision. Let's just say we didn't get a lot of sleep on Saturday night.

Anyway, after Friday's cross-training, Saturday was supposed to be another "recovery" day -- just an easy 4 mile run. So my plan was to do the easy run as soon as we got to Brooklyn. Then, since the weather forecast was calling for some potentially heavy snow that night and the next morning, I figured I'd wait for the snow to basically stop on Sunday, then go run in Central Park (I brought my yak-traks). You can see where this is headed.

My Saturday easy run was actually quite nice. The weather was breezy and brisk, but I was still able to run in shorts and my windbreaker and hat. Quite a different environment from my recent runs. This was all up and down streets and sidewalks in Brooklyn. It was an interesting experience. I only ended up doing 3 miles, but the sights, and sounds, and smells really enhanced the run. So here are two haiku inspired by moments along my run.

weathered hands push
the squeaking cart
...and red tulips

sidewalk market
oranges glisten
"hola hermanos"

Saturday evening we did the NYC main tourist attraction:




And then it started snowing. Not too hard at first. And through most of the night, and the drumming downstairs, and the party upstairs, and occasional wafts of cigarette (and other) smoke, and the cold drafts from the expansive windows, it snowed. And snowed.