T: The Trip

      I had another idea for the letter T but my head is full of my recent adventure so that's the account you get to read.  This year's T can wait for next year....

      At this moment, I am sitting at the JetBlue gate at JFK but the adventure began at SFO.  Early on last Thursday morning (and we are talking early, even for me - 3:30 am) I drove my silver bug Oskar down to San Francisco to pick up Sonny Boy.  He lives in the Sunset district so we tooled from there a bit south to SF International, made our way out to the long term parking garage, and then got the shuttle back to the terminals.  Security proved to be a challenge on two accounts, one inevitable and one a result of my carelessness.  I have a 4 inch chunk of metal along my right collar bone so bingo - there goes the metal detector.  Pat down time.  Fine.  While waiting for the TSA person I am asked by another TSA person if the bag she is holding is mine.  Yup.  "Do you have a knife in here?" she asks.  "Heck NO," I assure her. Guess what?  I did have a knife in there.  I was using the backpack that I take to work every day and I carry a paring knife in a sheaf.  Oops.  You know where this is going.  Fortunately, we all actually had a chuckle over it because I think they could tell I was flabbergasted.  I also freely released my paring knife to them.

      From there it was a jam packed three days. Tons of walking, hundreds of photos, one museum (MOMA), lots of general tourist behavior, and volumes of good conversation with Sonny Boy and my other traveling companion, Kevin.  On Friday evening, we all attended a rehearsal, out-of-towners dinner for the wedding couple.  That was a blast!  Perhaps forty people present, all very engaging and lively people.  That dinner set the stage for the wedding the following late afternoon.  The ceremony was at Prospect Park in Brooklyn.  The weather prediction had been iffy all week and the evening turned out to be cool and breezy but not wet.  Excellent omen.  I was the celebrant and embraced my role as master of ceremonies.  I had a story to tell.  It was really Tim and Sierra's story but I loved performing it.  Again, the guests were wonderful, interesting, energetic people and I do believe the wedding couple have surrounded themselves with a slew of positive and creative people.  It was an electric place to be.

      I won't get home until late tonight but I was smart enough to take tomorrow off from work.  I will need to collect myself before going back to the trenches.  I had been mentally preparing for this trip since late last fall.  My comfort level with the whole thing varied, depending on my exhaustion and confidence levels.  As the trip is wrapping up, I am pleased to report that it is all good.  I learned a lot, I made sweet connections with new and old friends, and my eyes were further opened to life.  Recharged and inclined to more adventure, I remain alive.

N: New York City

      Okay, so I know for those in my audience who live either near or in NYC, this post might be a bore but I just have to give the letter N to New York City.  The comparable place in my world is San Francisco.  San Francisco is quirky and charming with a plethora of cultural opportunities and fantastic natural beauty and views.  But New York CIty?  Oh my!  NYC has  energy unlike any other place.  It is powerful and electric.  It has neighborhoods packed with their own charm and stories.  There is so much history and cultural background in New York.   I wanted to go there for decades but I didn't want to go blind.  I wanted to go with a seasoned New Yorker or, at least, a seasoned New York visitor.  Three years ago, my brother Brian, an experienced New York traveler, and I did a New York adventure together.    His son Tim and Tim's fiance Sierra live in Queens and Brian has traveled there often enough to know the ins and outs of the city.

      That adventure was one of a kind.  I was a kid in a candy store!  Really!  I was delighted to see and do anything.  Brian, Tim, and Sierra went out of their way to make my stay there memorable.  Brian and I spent very little time at our hotel room and tons of time on foot and on the subway getting around.

New York City gave me everything I thought it would.  I loved the people and had not one single negative interaction.  Sure, there were the street beggars and the homeless but I know them from SF and, they are not bad people.  Just different from me.  I loved tasting the flavor of NYC and walking in the places (like Central Park and Wall Street and Brooklyn where the tree grows) that I have always read about.  Unforgettable. 

      And here's the exciting news:  I get to go there again.  THIS WEEK! Thursday, as a matter of fact.  Remember Tim and Sierra from above?  They are getting married on Saturday and I was honored (and, honestly, floored) to be asked by them to be the officiant at their wedding.  Stay tuned for more NYC photos soon.  For now, here is a handful of images that show my wide eyed embrace of the Big Apple.

Yup, that says it all.....