Watching the parade
Wend its way
Through Jackson Heights
All these people
From every walk of life
From every corner of the globe
From young to old and in between
From bankers to students to dancers to drummers
Librarians and social workers and lawyers
And every other profession in between
All the colors of the rainbow
Proudly walking and singing and dancing
Down the street
Love is love is love is love! 

​Imagine getting to work two Broadway shows in one day
Imagine getting to see audience members experience their first Broadway show
Sometimes even their first live show
The thrill they get when they walk into the room
The excitement
The pure joy
The way it uplifts and
Inspires.

I finally went for a run and
I signed up for the United Half in September and 
​I'm feeling good. 

that feeling when you’re at your
first in-person singing lesson
since before the pandemic
and your goal is to spend the next six months building back your range
ideally back to a high C
and in that very first lesson
you hit it
and it didn’t feel strained or scary
it was just there
and you feel relief and joy and fear and excitement

here we go.

chocolate cream coffee and parfait for breakfast
taking the train all the way to coney island
riding the cyclone!
being the only ones riding the dodgem cars
Phoebe winning a care bear!
the surprising terror of the ferris wheel
feeling hot sand beneath my feet
feeling the chill of the atlantic ocean
fish and chips for lunch
standing on the pier
and feeling the bite of the breeze
off the ocean

medieval art in manhattan
how strange that I’ve now been to the monasteries
where the art is from
or at least walked past them

the beautiful gardens
the cool stone
the quince tree sprouting fruit
the heavenly scented roses and the bell shaped floxgloves
evidence of fairy revels

the guggenheim in the morning
the way art can uplift and inspire and excite
make us see the world in new ways
help us to see the poetry in the every day

there was an activity in the reading room
looms with purple yarn
and baskets of words cut out from magazines
“weaving words” was the conceit
found poetry
it all made me want to get out the craft box again

gego and sze
germany and venezuela and the usa
form and shape and light
picasso and guagin and degas
spain and france
form and shape and light

a year with children
class projects
with tiles and capes and pillows,
brightly colored self portraits
and letters from NYC to Bilbao and back again
oh the joy of art and the way it can
uplift and inspire and excite

back to queens for a bbq
kids whirling on the hammock
playing pirates
bubbles blowing through the air
and little Fletcher
four months old
intently absorbing the chaos
not wanting to miss anything and then
falling asleep on my chest

at the last minute a trip to dumbo
walking along the waterfront
an amazing “treat yo’self” kind of dinner at cecconi’s
whipped ricotta with truffle honey!
agnolotti del plin in butter and sage!
lamb ragu with artichokes!
roast potatoes (that were particularly heavenly with the whipped ricotta)!
flavors and ambiance and savoring every mouthful
and then walking back along with the waterfront
with scoops of ice cream in waffle cones.

heaven is drinking from a fresh coconut at
smorgasburg in prospect park
filipino lemongrass chicken skewers and
corn on the cob slathered in mayo and cheese and salt and
guava maple lemonade

then running around the doggy park with
my little floof and
snuggling on the couch
and hearing his contented sigh.

take me out to the ballgame
eat fries and chicken tenders in a bowl bigger than your head
cheer the runs
celebrate the outs
soak in the atmosphere of the
great all-american game
on a beautiful blue sky day
in the bronx

​Seeing world-class historic art
At the Met is truly astonishing
But sometimes all you need
On a bright blue sky day
Is a patch of grass
On the outskirts of Central Park
With a sandwich in your belly
And people walking by
And the hum of music from a busker down the way
To feel utterly content.