City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

This New Year is so different from 2011.  Truly, it is.  In early January 2011, New York was still trying to recover from a massive snowstorm.  I clearly remember the depth of the snow, and the energy required to shovel that heavy, icy snow from the sidewalks in front of the shop.  How my muscles did ache for the first few days of that shoveling.  How surprising it was to realize that even though the shoveling continued, the aching did not.

Today's weather was much more spring like, with the temperature almost reaching 60 degrees F.  How odd it was to walk past the skating rink at Rockefeller Center this afternoon, and see skaters in light sweaters and sweat shirts trying to execute their favorite moves on slushy ice.  You can also see the large orange crane that allowed some workers to remove all those glittering lights.  Pretty soon the Tree will be removed from its place of honor.

I was on my way to meet some friends for a long-postponed Christmas lunch.  


Since my last visit to this part of Rockefeller Center, a large Lego shop has opened.  I did not have time to go inside for a proper browse, but loved the sculptures in place over one of the entrances.

Eventually, I reached my lunch destination and met up with my friends, an artist couple I have know for many decades.  We always have much to discuss, and laughing plays a big part of our conversations.

We also brought along the Christmas gifts that we wanted to exchange with each other, and elected to wait to open these festively wrapped packages after we'd returned home.  Too much drama might have ensued if we'd done the unwrapping at the restaurant.

So, after lunch we took a bit of a walk, enjoying the blue sky and mild January afternoon, and then parted with the knowledge that we'd be seeing each again very soon.

I am going to try to be more frequent with these posts, even if this might mean a shorter post.  I'm going to try to change a lot of my routines this year and see if this shake up gives me more relaxation and even fun.  I hope to be able to find some new city views to share with you, as I also explore making some of my country dreams more of a reality.

Best wishes to you all for a New Year that will amaze with its positive possibilities.