Observations From A Bicoastal Family



Saturday, August 16, 2014

Are You Used To It

I had an experience the other night that made me ask myself the question:

Are you used to living here?

The experience was this:
It was a really nice evening and I needed to go on a run.
Meaning: I had eaten some really good food the day before and I didn't get a run in.
So, I went on a run.
I went out around 8:30pm and planned on running for 45 minutes.

As I was ending my run I looked over to my right, towards the Hudson River, 
and there was a small boat following me.
The boat was clearly marked NYPD.

The boat stayed with me for several minutes and then sped away.
I didn't think anything of it.

But, then I thought about it a few minutes later and it occurred to me that there are things here that I am perfectly used to and somethings I probably won't ever be used to.

Either way, here are a few of those things.

Being with my family has not been a problem for me at all.
My heart be still.


There are puddles and run-off, seemingly from rain.
No.
 It's dog urine.
Always, always step over the puddles.


The sunsets over New Jersey have been absolutely breathtaking.


Seeing this sweet Lady everyday hasn't been bad either.


Riding the subway with complete strangers or without any one has had its challenges.



The NYC Water kiosks pop up all over the city.
The catch phrase is: New York has the best water in the country.
I'm not really sure that is a true statement.

After examining where this water is coming from, featured in the picture below, I would like to challenge the statement.




We have seen this subway stop every day.
Every time we approach the station the conductor says:
Houston Street, next stop Houston.

In New York it is pronounced: House-ton.
Not, Hew-ston.

I wasn't used to it, it made me laugh,
Unfortunately, I'm used to it now.


The inspiration for these thoughts was, of course, the police presence.
They are every where.
It doesn't bother me at all.



I am convinced that the whole of New York is under construction.
We have all missed the opportunity to go into the scaffolding business.



Surprisingly a lot of people smoke here.
A lot of people smoke cigars, just randomly in the middle of the day.


Conspiracy theorists are every where and they want to talk to you about their theories.


Walking the dog in the New York is crazy.
That's our dog down there with Scott and Ammon.
Not really used to this one.


"The yellow one's don't stop."
They will honk at you and they will run you over.
This is something you MUST get used to.



These doors are in all the subways.
You just walk through them if it's crowded or if you are carrying bags or if you just don't want to bother with the turn stile.
It's what you do. And, it is okay.
Nothing bad happens and sometimes there isn't an alarm.


I can't take pictures of the smells or the sounds of New York.
But, to give you an idea, the streets can smell like absolutely nothing. 
This is not often.

The streets can also smell like pizza.
Yep, just straight up fresh pizza.
This is often.

And, there are other times, that you just don't want to inhale.
All of the horrible smells in the world can be on one street corner at the same exact moment.
This is way too often.

It's all good.

There are things that I never want to get used to about New York.
But, there are other things that I truly am open to loving about this city.








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