Friday, November 6, 2020

My morning walk in Central Park

I was up late last night. Obsessively checking presidential vote tallies in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. As I did the previous night. Refreshing my browser every thirty seconds at 1 AM. When is the tranche of Pima County votes coming? My poor wife asleep next to me.

When I woke up this morning, Biden was ahead in Georgia. The day was sunny. I had time for a walk in the park.


By the time I checked Twitter again, near Central Park South, Biden was up in Pennsylvania. And I knew what it meant. Those of us who were up late refreshing our browsers over and over. We knew.


I try not to post about politics, because: (1) I'm not going to convince anybody, (2) nobody asked my opinion, and (3) I don't really want to know your opinion either.

But I will make a brief statement about human beings.




I believe in kindness, and fairness, and love, and respect. I don't care whether we share the same god, or the same holidays, or the same skin tone, or the same socioeconomic status, or the same anything. You do your thing. I do mine. We co-exist. We'll get along just fine. 

There is, however, a basic threshold of human decency that I require of others. It's a relatively low bar--God knows we all have our flaws. 



But it generally excludes people who are pathological liars, cheaters, narcissists, and, for lack of a better term, obnoxious blowhards. I avoid people like that. I don't support people like that.

I have a bit more tolerance for people who do. But, honestly? Not very much. If you're not Biff, but you're still one of the goons who stands behind him and laughs at his jokes and nods when he makes fun of others? You and I are not going to be close friends.

I am who I am. We all set our moral floors.




What I was thinking, all the way back home, was how green this park is. Still. In November. 



That green November softball field, and the yellow and orange leaves, and that phenomenal tree in the middle of the Sheep Meadow, and the playgrounds just waking up with the very first toddlers and nannies of the day.



And I know what everyone is thinking, as I pass them, every jogger and dog walker, everyone here in this wonderful anarchist jurisdiction of bleeding-heart liberal elites.

We're all smiling inside, and thinking how great it is to live in this melting pot of a place. And feeling grateful for the return of that basic threshold of human decency, however tenuous.



It was a nice walk this morning.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

COVID Halloween!

 During the Berlin Airlift following WWII, an American supply pilot dropped candy to kids in East Berlin.

Halloween 2020 on the Upper West Side was our own "candy drop" during tough times. Several of our townhouse neighbors went all-out with their decorations. Ours was one of the few apartment buildings welcoming trick-or-treaters this year. But lots of kids came by--we gave away ten big bags of candy.

Some of our visitors...






We even made the local news--sort of--that's my back and arm at 2:53!


Hurray for candy and kids, and Happy Halloween forever and always!