Dear Dr. Savage,
After the last posting, Friday, when coffee shop closed at midnight, I took the crosstown bus and came back to my neighborhood. Where I live many stores are open 24 hours and it's very safe. After a little shopping, about 1am, heading home, saw my neighbor hanging out with others. He said "why are you going to go to bed, everybody going out having a good time." I said "well, I don't drink, I don't like too loud music, bars or night clubs are not attractive to me, so..."
He said that he felt the same way, but just wanted to get out for the heck of it and we should go all the way downtown by the water. Weather was nice, spark of adventure is still alive in me, I was convinced. Dropped the stuff at home, took a jacket and in an hour we were on the boat on Hudson river where it meets Atlantic ocean. Took 2 hours of ride, look at the Statute of Liberty, sailed by the Ellis Island. Just look at the dark water, city lights and enjoyed the breeze.
He was born in here, but didn't know much of the history. I ended up telling him stories of the statute and the island. Actually when that french lib. gave it as a gift, that statute considered an atrocity to the art of sculpture.
He was famous and a big shut in Europe, he was friends with upper "art" circles in here, so they didn't want to hurt his feeling by throwing it away. That thing was so humongous, they didn't have place or a storage for it.
So, they decided to put it out of the way - far away - on the water. After the poet wrote a poem about freedom and connected to it, it took its own life and became a symbol.
About the Island; Sam Ellis owned it, he was faithful to British. British lost the war, he was forced to sell it for ... guess how much... guess, guess... that's right - ten bucks!
Manhattan Island was sold by Indians to Dutch for how much... guess, guess... that's right - twenty four bucks!
I believe that you know all these, I'm just telling you about my conversation with my American born neighbor who didn't know any of it.
It was a pleasurable trip for me and an informative one for him. I hit the sack at 5am tried and happy. Only in New York... You don't need to have your own boat to end up sailing any time of the day - any day. That's why I live in here. I can have a luxury life without being rich.
Sunday and Monday there were street fairs close to me. There you can have your BBQ, spinach pie, crepe, grilled corn on the cob, pastries, all sorts of ethnic foods (Spanish, Indian, Asian - you name it), listen to music, take a stroll looking at all the stuff being sold. It's a picnic. Why should I commute for this? It's hassling, cost much more and basically waste a time. Unless the trip is intellectually fulfilling and psychologically healthy, I'm not interested anymore. I have done so much traveling, I'm tired of it.
You know what you should talk about? About traveling less, staying put and spending money inside the country. It's very harmful to tell people to travel overseas at this time. It's not patriotic. Another thing; what if something happens? We should all be here to help each other. There is no place that has more abundance, better prices and better service than here at home.
Oh, yes, to finish on a fun note, today I met couple of pooches; they both jumped on me. One was Yankee, the other - Pookie. Cute, sweet faces. Both got chicken and beef BBQ treats from me. You could see their reaction and the spark in their eyes. They give you so much happiness back, you can't measure.
Oh, by the way, I wanted to tell you this fun story. It has been unforgettable for me. It's about pooches.
It was several years ago, I was with friends browsing the downtown, which was very crowded. I don't remember what was the occasion, but it seemed everybody was on the streets. We bumped into a group of young people who had a cute brown poodle. We started petting him, asked the name. His name was Cervantes. A little later another one caught our attention and got sweet touching. The name - Shakespeare. Before we got home, I was jumped by another one. The name? You're not going to believe this ... that's right - Dante! It was unreal. All in one day, pet names as such I never heard before? I still haven't. You can't make this up. That was the highlight of that day and I never forgot it.
Only in New York...
Hear you soon. So long.
