The Tree

If you have a job, and it's not the job of your dreams, you may think that if you didn't have it anymore, you would fill your days doing other things.  Other things that you imagine would love doing.  Like sleeping in, taking naps, doing all the cultural things your city has to offer, taking classes, doing volunteer work, start exercising, start meditating, run a marathon, go completely green, adopt a pet (or another one), try out for Survivor or The Amazing Race, find your soul mate or reconnect with the one you have, spend more time with your kids or grandkids, etc.  In short, enjoy yourself, be a better person, relax and save the world.  Oh yeah, and somehow make money.

As I described in my earlier posts, it has taken a while to come off the treadmill of working.  I realized this morning that I have not been able to go from 1,000 miles an hour to stopping to smell the roses and walking slowly down the street overnight.  It has definitely been an unwinding process.

So, before I have to get back on the treadmill, I am trying to be sure that I now walk slowly and smell the roses.  My mom came into the city yesterday and we went to the Fashion District to buy material so she can make drapes!  She is going to sew them herself.  Can you imagine?  She is so crafty.  She came fully prepared with a drawing of the doorway she would hang them in (they were going in a doorway between a bedroom and a sitting room -- who knew?), measurements, and a pillow to match the fabric.  We went into these fabric stores in the 30's between 7th and 8th Avenues with rows and rows and bolts and bolts (I learned a new word yesterday) of fabric.  I felt like I was in Project Runway and I had a time limit, a budget and someone was going to pop out with a camera.  There was purple fuzzy material, gold lame and so much other material.  Overwhelming.  Then we went into a notions (?) store to buy tie-backs.  It was great.  It was an entire part of the city I knew nothing about.

Then we went down to the Bedford Barrow Commerce Block Association Festival.  I recently was shown this lovely little part of the Village when I went to the Cherry Lane Theater to see a play.  It is like stepping out of New York into another town or country.  The festival had terrific artists, food and musicians.  What was terrific was a photographer's booth who had a framed picture of this tree that was unmistakably hanging on my wall.

It is a tree on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.  My mom photographed the tree while we were there on vacation and we both had a copy of it matted and framed in different colors (the frame is black, but not showing).   I just couldn't believe it when I saw it hanging on the side of his booth.  His daughter got married on Harbour Island.

The last 2 days were sunny and in the 70's.  I was in Central Park both days.  I walked slowly.  It was wonderful.