City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

Since 2001, around this time of the year I begin to think that I will concentrate on farmers markets finally showing us naturally ripened tomatoes, following who is advancing toward championship in the U.S. Open tennis tournament, seeing how the morning and afternoon light is changing and the birthday that I will reach on September 12.

However, we New Yorkers also continue to be annually reminded by various media and our own minds of what happened ten years ago.  I'd guess that not one of us who woke up that 2001 morning to see the beauty of the blue sky will ever quite get over how our city and perhaps even the world was changed by what two air planes did to our landscape, our fellow New Yorkers, and how that devastating shock was soon amplified by violence in other places.

Yes, we do collectively try to embrace our continuing realization of our collective fragility, and to value each day.  Even so, bad and tragic memories continue to color the beauty that autumn in New York can bring.

This particular morning's blue sky quickly turned to overcast grey with the possibility of rain.  Even so, I headed over to Central Park around midday to see if I could detect any Hurricane Irene damage to that lovely landscape.   I preferred that to staying indoors and watching any of the television coverage of memorial ceremonies being held further downtown.

The opaque sky really muted all the greens and gave those of us walking or bicycling through the Park a sense of a quieter day.  Perhaps this was appropriate and a hint from nature.  (Tomorrow will give us a full moon, with all that night light might do to affect us mere mortals.)

Tomorrow will indeed be my birthday.  I find it difficult to believe that I have reached the age that I have reached.  Perhaps everyone feels this same way as years go by.  In any event, I am taking this week off from my usual workaday life, and will be enjoying playing with my creative notions, spending more time outdoors, and getting together with friends for lots of cake...most of it chocolate.

The following photo shows some brightly colored glads that were given me by my work colleagues...along with a delicious fruit tart that we shared after I'd made my wish and blown out the requisite lit candles.

I'll keep the light touch in this post going with another photo taken in Central Park today of a massing of tiny, bright yellow blooms in an embrace of gentle green leaves.  I continue to find that nature is reassuring, even after a hurricane's reminder of her power.

Our city is now under its latest security threat warning.  Since 2001, we have consistently been under a very high security threat, so it is a bit tricky to understand what ratcheting up these degrees of warnings actually means.  For myself, I continue to welcome each day, and to try to continue to go where I love to go, do what I love to do, embracing life.


Best wishes to you all.