and another day of talking to family and friends

 the thin spire on the right, popping up out of the buildings and pointing into the clouds, is the empire state building. last night it was brightly lit in a pulsing red.

 chanda in her mask, on her way to pick up some groceries.

we used to cuddle up on the bed to watch a movie. now we sit in chairs . . though i guess they are rather close together. i don't think there's room in this apartment to sit six feet apart and all be able to see the computer screen . . . . . we watched an episode of barney miller tonight. i loved seeing it (it's been awhile) but, i'm not sure chanda was that impressed.

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yesterday, i talked to my sister and clyde. today i talked to marisa and korrina, and greg talked to his mom. florida has finally implemented a state wide stay-at-home order, though greg's mom's assisted living complex has been under a lockdown of sorts for several weeks already. his mom gets her meals brought to her in her room, and she speaks to all family members on the phone (no on site visits). she's doing well, and  her spirits are good. korrina is good also, and has everything organized with where she puts shoes and outside clothes when she comes in from getting groceries. brain took the train into manhattan today, to pick up produce from the restaurant he used to work at. they finally closed completely, and were cleaning out their refrigerators. korrina made sure he wore a mask into town.

dinner with abigail on a monday night

 tonight was abigail's last night in nyc. 

 i made polenta with a meat sauce on top . . 

 and then greg and i saw her off at penn station . . 

 her plane wasn't due to leave until 11:30 . . 

 but after sayiang good-bye to her we were a little worried because new jersey transit was experiencing delays. there had been a signal failure somewhere, and all trains were waiting for clearance (she was flying out of newark airport). she ended up waiting on the train out of penn station for forty-five minutes. i was worried about how long the security line would be at the airport, but it must have been alright as she finally texted saying she had boarded.

greg and i had a nice walk home from 34th street.

grumpy cafe and a studio rehearsal and election stuff

 chanda and i visited grumpy cafe this afternoon at 12:45 pm, just before her studio rehearsal.

 she chose their "honey graham mocha." 

 i had what they call a "pour-over" with a little cream.

 talking with ellen before running her dance.

 after running her dance she got ready for some ballet audition pics.

 we took photos of her in five different positions . . 

 these are just the "croisées . . " in first and fourth positions . . 

and, of course, an arabesque.

 we then stopped at a local cafe for lunch before she went to a nutcracker rehearsal.

 i did a little bit of christmas shopping at "whisk," a local kitchen supply store, and at "eataly," an italian market where i bought a panettone.

 i also visited fish's eddy, a store that has sold dishes and glassware for thirty years here in the city. the customers above are reading people's notes about who they will be voting for in the election.

 i can assure you that not many supported this fellow . . though i did see his name on a few . . they seemed to be "tongue in cheek." we live in a rather liberal city, though morgana and i were trying to figure out this evening approximately how many new yorkers might actually be voting for him. i kept saying, "they all must be from new jersey or long island . . the outer boroughs . . queens or howard beach." she kept saying that she was sure there were probably some on manhattan island . . 

 the hillary mug in the window. they had one for obama too, in 2012.

 reading quotes from the republican candidate . . 

 on to better things . . such as a beautiful skyline, (though i have just read jeremiah moss' post about "election stuff" and i find it pertinent enough to link to it here. he gave me a little hope. i hope there's some hope . . )

and a luminous moon . . 

day after three kings

we spent a quiet day around the apartment . . and actually did some work on grammar together.

i wanted to get a few pictures of their scarves. they're very warm and soft!

morgana says it's perfect to tuck into her coat.

i walked with chanda to her ballet school and then exchanged a star wars shirt at the uniqlo store that didn't fit brian.

morgana visited the met before going to her babysitting job.

the chocolate mouse

 the girls' received the most delicious and cutest party favor: a chocolate mouse from l.a. burdick.

 we never had these chocolates before and were excited as we really miss the chocolate bar.

 we immediately went on an excursion to find the shop!

it was on twentieth street and chanda bought a box as a secret santa gift for her ballet friend. the shop sold the most amazing chocolates, and hot chocolate! we can't wait to go back and try a cup one day.

morning walks and linden trees

 chanda began her american ballet theatre dance intensive yesterday morning. i've been walking over with her at 7:45 am each day as it's such a nice time to be out. 

it felt very hot even at 7:45 in the morning. it's supposed to go up to 90 today . . yesterday was so nice! i was hoping today would be similar.

there are a lot of things she has to make sure are packed in her bag: jazz shoes, character shoes, character skirt, yoga mat, pointe shoes, and soft shoes. when the schedule comes out she won't have to carry it all around each day . . unless they all take place at once . . but they're usually spaced out during the week.

when we arrive at the school we always come across a long line to get in. 

waiting for the doors to open . . 

quiet streets . . 

unbeknownst to us, the line on the other side stretched all the way around the corner . . !

 

afterwards, i manage to find my way to the italian market for a chocolate espresso before heading home . . 

to clean out various piles that have accumulated through the winter months . . and today i found my christmas chocolate! i thought i had eaten all of it, but apparently not. what a nice reward for going through books and bags of yarn and finally recycling old catalogs and magazines.

since the weekend the linden trees have been blooming. their sweet, heady scent always brightens my day and i incessantly go on and on and on about it.