Umbrellas Are My Friend

Living in a pedestrian city requires that you become friends with an umbrella. Make that umbrellasssssss because just as you get used to a favored one the day turns sunny and and it is soon left behind to become the friend of someone else.
There is no loyalty in the umbrella world.

I had never before given umbrellas much thought. We always had them around the house, shoved under more frequently used weather items like gloves, hats, and scarves but it was rare to pull one out. Oh, maybe there would be a showery morning that required an umbrella covered dash to the driveway to pick up the newspaper that was five times its normal size from absorbing every puddle within three feet of it, but for the most part the umbrella stayed in the closet.

My lesson in learning to carry an umbrella at all times has been learned the hard way. Unexpected torrential downpours have left me shopping, museum strolling, and lunching with a look that should only be viewed in private. That "just stepped out of the shower but with all my clothes on" look. Not a pretty look and very hard to recover from once it's acquired without going home, taking a real shower, and throwing all your clothes in the washer.

It IS possible in NYC to dash under overhangs for blocks at a time but then comes the storefront where there is more people overhang than actual overhang. And you don't want to be that person just barely under the overhang because that is where the rain accumulated on the roof is definitely going to spill. I've seen it happen. Okay, I've HAD it happen. Carrying an umbrella is definitely the way to go.

So now I've made friends with my umbrella(s). I like them all. Big ones, small ones, pretty ones, black ones, travel size, golf size, and even adopted ones. As long as they keep me dry.

 

In the Spirit of the Season

I haven't ventured downtown to see if there is a giant spider climbing its way up the Empire State Building but I am enjoying how the neighborhood is decorating for fall. Even my little bodega on the corner pulled out all the stops. Spooky? No. Entertaining. Yes.

It's no surprise that not one Halloween themed decoration made the move from the Midwest to Midtown. Halloween was never my favorite holiday to decorate or prepare for. I was the mom who was always perusing the store aisles on October 30th to come up with a nifty, creative, original costume when everything looked like Alfred Hitchcock's birds had picked, picked, picked over everything. I seemed to luck out every time so my son never had to head to school as Wonder Woman or a barely recognizable fruit or vegetable. To this day my favorite thrown together costume was the "Where's Waldo" outfit we managed to pull together at the last minute - striped t-shirt, Harry Potter glasses (before there was a Harry Potter), stocking cap, and jeans. Done! Ready for the door to door candy marathon.

In New York they seem to pull out their credit card, make the call to the florist or interior decorator and Poof! instant holiday themed doorstep. Kids have been running around the streets for several days now dressed in costumes that have become part of their wardrobe rotation. Yesterday a court jester and Robin Hood were curbside when I walked out of our apartment.

Gates and barred windows that looked functional and practical now harbor all the spiders and creepy crawly things you would never want to touch. I think the decorating is more of a deterrent than the bars themselves.

It's really a fun time to be in the city as long as I don't have to dress up myself, find a costume for someone else, or put real pumpkins on my window ledge to rot. Other than that I really am in the spirit of the season!

Guests

The first entry in our Guests book reads like this:
8-8-99 - 8-12-99 Kay, JR,Tyler & Jacee 

I don't remember what we did with my sister and her family over those few days but my guess would be cooking out, swimming, and fishing in the backyard pond. It would have helped to have those notes but initially I was just thrilled to remember to remind guests to sign their names. Subsequent entries provided more details - why they were visiting, where we ate, what we did, and invitations to various homes to return the hospitality.

There is even an entry from ourselves:
8-26-00 - 8-27-00 We were grateful for our semi cool basement guest room while our air conditioner was on the fritz. It was 93 degrees upstairs. Of course our newly acquired hometown was 109 degrees today earning the "Hot Spot in the Nation" title - hotter than Death Valley. The front page of the hometown newspaper (in back of book) shows our air conditioner repairman fixing our unit! :-)  Signed, Ourselves

Having a place to host guests as I started setting up my own homes has been important to me. Growing up in a small house with six occupants, one bathroom, and all spare space occupied didn't leave any room for guests. Until I left home at eighteen I can only remember having one high school friend that stayed overnight in our house. Typically sleepovers would be during the summer in a backyard tent made of blankets thrown over the wire clothes line. (Now that I think of it that was a pretty nifty guest room in a Lawrence of Arabia kind of way.)  

Until this last move the guest rooms have typically been a spare room with a private bathroom close by and, if I remembered, fresh flowers from the garden on the bed table and a mint on the pillow. The NYC guest room/TV room/dining room consists of a sectional couch that acts as two twin beds and floor space that accommodates an inflatable queen mattress PLUS a twin mattress if placement is just right. Oh, and one shared bathroom. 

But I still enjoy the parade of overnight guests. This past month it was a favorite cousin and a newly engaged couple who came to town for a romantic dinner at Rockefeller Center. The Guests book helps me remember all of these events over the last few years but more importantly, the friends and family times.

7-8-06 - 7-9-06 Came up to ride The Lizard. The weather couldn't have been any better for cycling.....

Not A Good Sign

Just when I think I have adapted to apartment living I walk into the hallway to see this sign posted today.

 This is especially not good when you are living on this floor.........

and for whatever reason every cellphone call I am place is failing. There will be no talking to the front desk to request my ride down.

That leaves me with taking these all the way down........

which does not kill me but does make me grumpy.

Luckily I caught a ride up when I came home with grocery bags and tonight the sign is gone. That's a good sign I'll be catching a ride down tomorrow too.