Midlife Creative

Magical can be defined as : “beautiful or delightful in such a way as to seem removed from everyday life”

That was how my week in New York City felt. I was a tourist taking it all in for the first time while trying my best not to give myself away as a tourist.
Judging by the fact that I was yelled at to ”move a little faster!” my first time in the subway station, I wasn’t fooling anyone. ”You’re not from here, are you?” a business man asked me as the crowd crossed the street on a red light while I patiently waited for the ’walk’ sign.”
“No, I most definitely am not, but SHE is,” I said pointing to my daughter who seemed to match the pace of the crowd effortlessly.

My senior, Tabby, and I spent 7 days in a friends’ furnished apartment visiting colleges including The New School, Pace University, NY Institute of Technology, and Marymount Manhattan. Thank you, Bill, for being such a generous and gracious host.

The reason for the trip was to tour colleges, but we were able to do a lot of sightseeing as well. We woke up each day and walked outside in anticipation, not knowing where the day would take us. If we got tired, we came back to the apartment and took a nap. If we got hungry, we went out and found something to eat. As a mom of four who rarely takes this type of vacation for seven whole days, I felt a freedom I haven’t felt in a long time. It was also my first time spending an extended time with my child who is no longer a child but an adult.

As I reflect on the week, here are some of the things I appreciated about this magical city.

The Subway – Most New Yorkers don’t own cars. They take the subway and buses. For $34, we purchased an unlimited weekly pass. We used google maps on our phones to navigate. The sound of the subway grew on me.

Walking – I loved the amount of walking we had to do. Most days we walked between 8-10 miles. I was having a lot of back pain going into the trip and it got better with each day. I attribute some of this to all the walking I did.

Food – There is such a variety of food for every budget. Everything from homemade pasta to pizza to gyros to seafood to crepes. Deciding what to eat each day was one of my favorite parts of exploring the city.

Diversity – Over 800 languages are spoken in NYC. I especially noticed this as we were walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and truly feeling the whole world on that bridge. Anytime I am surrounded by more than just English speakers, I feel a rush of happiness.

Art and Culture – New York is home to so many incredible museums, opera, symphony, dance, and of course – Broadway. We didn’t see any shows, but we did visit two museums – The MOMA and Cloisters. We also enjoyed some live blues in a bar while eating chicken wings.

E.B. White in Here is New York describes the city like this:

There are roughly three New Yorks.

There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night.
Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. 
…Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion. ”

After the initial panic of being in a strange city with more noise and a faster pace than I’m used to, I started to settle in and see these different groups of people. The people who call NYC home.

I observed the school children walking home carrying backpacks and chatting with their friends. I saw young parents loaded up with water bottles and snacks, talking to other parents as their preschoolers played in Central Park. I watched a group doing a workout in an apartment parking lot and a little league baseball game that didn’t look that different than games I have attended elsewhere. I watched the business people grabbing their coffee in the mornings, the janitors cleaning the floors in the apartment we were staying, and the chess players in Washington square. NYC is not just a tourist destination or a place where people come to make money. People come and go and those who stay do so for a reason.

Tabby is considering moving to New York. She is still undecided. It’s a city of opportunity, diversity, art, and beauty. It is also expensive and she is weighing whether it is worth the financial cost. Whatever she decides longterm, I will be grateful for the time we spent together on this very lovely spring break trip and look forward to the next time I get to go again.