family in town

 

greg and i walked uptown to meet his sister who is in town for a birthday bash for her mother-in-law. we passed these church bells along the way . . 

and then going past bryant park . . 

i walked right by the american woodcock everyone has been flocking to see. (i only got a picture of his backside as there was a large crowd surrounding him.) (there's a news blurb about it here from channel 4.)

we met up with greg's nephew, his sister and her sister-in-law at st. patrick's cathedral where she had lit a candle for her mom.

brian and denise then went to see the musical oh, mary! while greg, christa and i walked to the museum of modern art on 53rd street.

this was the first painting i saw when stepping off the elevator on the 5th floor . . paula modersohn-becker's self portrait with two flowers in her raised left hand (one of eva's favorite artists). (the painting is jointly owned by moma and the neue gallerie which is where i last saw it a few years ago.)

christa likes to do paint by numbers on her phone to relax and decompress and she was excited to see many of the paintings this evening. (she manages a tractor supply store and just received a special award this year as manager of the year for her district.)

(starry night . . since it was a free admission friday night, the museum packed!)

monet's water lilies . . 

we made it in time to sign up to see the special frida and diego exhibit. they took down the sign up qr code as soon as we had downloaded it! the museum closed at 8:30 and we finally entered the exhibit at 8:00.

the exhibit was in partnership with the set designer for the opera that is currently playing at the met. i'd like to go but tickets are very expensive . . unless we sit up in the nose bleed section.

we walked to apple jack diner for a bite to eat afterwards . . 

and i was able to see the splash down of the artemis crew on the diner's tv.

i had a bowl of very good manhattan clam chowder and a garden salad . . 

and then we walked back to times square to meet up with denise and brian who had waited to have the actors sign their program after the show (which they said was wonderful). it was a nice evening together.

two in the afternoon

grace church

tea with sacha at peace cafe (after an acupuncture appointment in union square) . . 

we shared a slice of vegan carrot cake (tofu cream cheese which i wasn't sure if i would like, but it was very good!). we missed seeing reina. she wasn't feeling well today.

in the 90's

i was out at 8:15 this morning to visit with chanda at the cafe (where they were very busy!) and to get a coffee before walking uptown to my dentist. today i walked up fifth avenue to 34th street. this is marble collegiate church (dutch reformed protestant) at 29th street, whose original congregation was established in 1628.

two women just hanging out and trying to stay cool while waiting for a bus?

i arrived at the dentist at around 10 am. it was about 86 degrees by then i think. it was a rather warm walk and i always try to stay in the shade. i caught up on the news with the hygienist (carina - her son is 13 now!) and filled her in on the going's on of my three. doctor gerardi flew in and out very quickly . . they were busier than usual for a hot august day. things usually slow down in august, but this year feels very busy with more local people staying in town. i thought everyone was traveling . . we certainly have plenty of tourists visiting nyc. maybe it feels busier because the past two years were extra quiet. i think more people have finally moved back.

so . . on my walk home i passed this store at 29th and madison . . a brand new whole foods. it looked huge from the outside. i actually haven't been too enthralled with whole foods since amazon took it over (their decor at union square became grey and too dark and felt crowded and chaotic), but i couldn't resist walking in and seeing what this one was like.

 

i walked into an empty store. the crowds haven't discovered it yet.

i also was shocked to see my favorite cafe had a spot just to the right of the entrance (which you can see in this video). i had just walked by its empty chelsea shop on my way uptown this morning - they recently closed it and i'm sure a lot of neighborhood people share my disappointment about that.

cafe grumpy!!!!

cafe grumpy in cahoots with whole foods amazon . . so strange. i did have fun talking with the baristas. one had come from the chelsea cafe and she mentioned how much she missed it. they said i should check out the upstairs where the groceries were (the downstairs was mainly prepared food). 

wandering the downstairs (past salad and soup bars, a pizza counter, sushi counter and za'ater counter) with my matcha lemonade (cold, bittersweet and refreshing). 

scanning the upstairs . . since it wasn't overcrowded with customers yet, the atmosphere was very relaxed.

so much space! this section is all self check-out and to the right were the cashiers (i'm glad they still have cashiers - gourmet garage is only self check-out).

i had a fun time wandering around and seeing many items i used to love to buy . . 

 

such as these big dipper beeswax candles. (i didn't buy any today, they are a little pricey and it's a tad hot for candles lately.) i did get some simple oatmeal soap that my health food store doesn't sell.

 

my sister loves baking the thanksgiving turkey in plastic bags . . hopefully this extra large parchment pouch will be big enough for this year's bird? 

out again into the hot air and to madison square park.

and to eataly for figs and focaccia.

where to now?

trader joe's for butter and olive paté (the air conditioning in these places is also a nice break from the heat).

well, it was a very hot two days but it's cooler tonight (86) and tomorrow it's only supposed to go up to . . 82!

tomato and mozzarella focaccia with sautéed onions, green pepper, zucchini (summer squash) and two sweet italian sausages from the butcher.

(p.s. august 9th - dad's birthday . . he would have been 96.)

sunday poem and an afternoon walk

on the beach at night alone,

as the old mother sways her to and fro, singing her husky song

as i watch the bright stars shining, i think a thought of the clef of the universes, and of the future . . . . 

from on the beach at night alone, by walt whitman (1819-1892)

 

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sunday afternoon walk  . . 

 

i met greg at the museum for a walk on the high line . . 

 

 

the beautiful church of the guardian angel at tenth avenue and 21st street whose architecture was inspired by puglia's cathedral of bitonto. the exterior is a mix of brick, limestone and marble panels, and it's alter was built by the bermardini statuary company in italy. the church first began as a mix of townhouses on 23rd street and ministered to dockworkers and seamen and was an inspiration for the movie on the waterfront. you can read more about it here.