Julie’s News from Maryland

I have to say, I really have come to love this city.  It is smelly.  It is loud.  People are in your face all the time begging, trying to sell you something, asking you to give some time or money to a cause, asking for directions, or barking at you for being too slow or stopping in their way.  It’s virtually impossible to get across town.  It takes 45 minutes to get anywhere - 10 blocks or 100 blocks, it doesn’t matter, it always takes 45 minutes.  It is cold in the winter and sticky and hot in the summer.   But, I love it.

A few of my very close friends from California came to visit this weekend.  Because it was rainy yesterday, we spent a few hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  While sometimes I feel like I haven’t even seen a 1/4 of what is in there because it’s just so huge, I discovered as I walked around with my friends that I’ve actually seen quite a lot of it.  I have my favorite paintings and sculptures.  I still get turned around in there, but have learned to enjoy the adventure of wandering around in the vastness of it.

Other adventures have included a trip to lower Manhattan to see Ground Zero and time in Central Park.  I am a veteran of the city now and can find my way around pretty easily, even on subway lines I don’t know all that well or when trains are running on funky schedules for weekend construction.  I can even navigate myself in and out of the Park without getting hopelessly lost.

What’s really amazing, though, is how much I just really love it.  I love being in Central Park.  It is such a noisy place - people talking and squealing, music playing from boom boxes or amplified instruments.  It is super crowded on sunny days.  The hot dogs are gross.  But I really love it and love being there with all those people - enjoying being outside and just goofing off in New York City.  I love all the different parts of the park and all the fun things you can do there - ride a carousel, splash in the sprinklers, lay on the grass, row a boat, ice skate, take a tour…the activities are endless and I love that about the place.

I love getting around town on the subways.  It is fun to chat with my friends and family while we ride on a train.  No one has to pay so much attention to getting us somewhere that they miss the conversation.  We all just chat and enjoy each other while the train people get us where we need to go.  We really can get all over the city on trains and buses, which can be hard some days, but overall is so much better for the environment and much cheaper for us considering how expensive gas is these days.

I love seeing celebrities.   I love running quick errands in the neighborhood around my house and knowing the people that work in the shops here.  I love bumping into people that I know all over the city.  I love the beautiful buildings and the old architecture and the history in random places around the city.

The city has been tough on us as a family.  We really do belong in the suburbs.  But I realized as I walked around with my friends this weekend that I really have grown to love this city and I’m going to miss many things about it when we’re gone.