First Left to Brooklyn

I have noticed that my commute is somewhat quicker if I manage to stay out of Brooklyn ...

(I'll wait while you all come to the realization that I have a 5 mile intra-boro commute that involves no bridges or tunnels or even, most days, highways.)

And on to our tale ...

This morning I dragged myself out of bed a bit earlier than usual so that I would have extra time to clean the snow and ice off of the car and still arrive at work on time. No, biking was not in the plan.

I did the usual ... shower, dress, dry hair ... and skipped the make-up figuring I'd steal some time and do it at work. After dressing in flannel lined jeans -- mom-style jeans -- and my uber warm Sorel boots (work slacks and shoes in my tote), I carefully made my way out to the car. Carefully, I say, because as nicely as the walks around our Co-op are cleared, the parking lot is a mess of ice and snow.

Picking my way across the lot I was suddenly jerked from my snow induced stupor as I realized that my car was not covered in 5 inches of snow/ice/ick but was mostly cleaned off ... and my husband was putting the finishing touches on it.

(You can all go "awww" now.)

So I did what any self-respecting wife would do (and could legally do, in public, in a parking lot, in freezing weather), I offered him a lift to work (he was going to take the subway). Hey, he saved me 20 minutes of freezing labor.

I carefully navigated my way out of the parking lot, taking only 5 minutes to actually get moving after spinning the wheels a bit in the slush (thank you oh tub of 12 year old kitty litter that lives in my car for just such an emergency). Cautiously, because the streets, while not horrible, were still rather slushy and I had not yet had sufficient caffeine, I made my way to the hallowed edifice that is Stuyvesant High School and dropped off my fabulous spouse and, making a U turn, headed off to work.

On the rare occasions that I drop Mike at work, I then head south, down West Street and through the tunnel that loops around the bottom of Manhattan and leaves one heading North, up the FDR Drive. This was my intent this morning.

I quickly got into the left lane and looked carefully for the signs indicating the tunnel. And when I didn't see them, but did see altered traffic patterns due to the construction at Ground Zero, I took the first ramp to my left. I figured that I was already past the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel entrance.

I figured wrong.

Yes, I wound up in Brooklyn.

Oops.

But I still got to work early.

And I still have a wonderful spouse.

*** And my loom is still delayed in a FedEx warehouse in Middletown, PA due to the weather.

The Acid Test

I spent much of yesterday working. Partly on my own class lessons and partly on the administrative stuff that makes up the rest of my work day.

Yes, yesterday was a school holiday. Yes, I was home. Remember that the next time someone criticizes teachers for having a short workday / year.

With my trip back to the classroom this year has come some seriously teachable moments at home. Yesterday, I was preparing red cabbage pH indicator and decided to run through the lab exercise with Squidette and Little Squid.

The deep purple in the lower left is the unadulterated cabbage extract. The bright red was extract plus lemon juice, the fuscia was vinegar, the green -- baking soda. The pale pink was some lemon-lime soda and the pale purple was milk. The sudsy one? Dish soap.

The rest of the extract was absorbed into melita filters, dried and sliced and readied for today's lab.

Yes, I did spend more time prepping the lab then my students will spend doing it.

We didn't, however, just spend the day in the house prepping my lab. A walk was taken uptown to see the U.S.S. New York.
The New York is an amphibious transport dock, the first I have ever seen in New York Harbor. Usually we see battle ships and aircraft carriers for the annual Fleet Week.

The New York has, incorporatated into it's structure, 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center.

Mike and Squidette were lucky enough to see her sailing upriver when she came to town. (She sailed right past their school after making a brief stop opposite the WTC to give a 21 gun salute.)

Squid on Wheels: Riding Around Manhattan

It has been two years since we last attempted to circumnavigate our home island and, in reality, on this trip, we actually circumcised the island ... we cut off the tip after encountering heavy tourist traffic at the southern end.

We started by meeting a friend and his dad and rode up to Fairway to buy the fixings for a picnic breakfast for later in the morning. We then made a brief stop at the base of the George Washington Bridge. I am always amazed at the size difference between the Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge! After ascending the hill that starts at the light house, we rode a bit more before stopping to admire the view from Inspiration Point.
At Inwood Park, while the adults schmoozed, the kids ran out and grabbed a geocache that we'd failed to find on a previous trip.

Little Squid discovered a quicker way back to the path.
Squidette got caught trying to sneak up on the adults.

The view from our breakfast spot.
Starting downtown, we paused to admire the only surviving farmhouse in Manhattan. Very strange to think about farms in Manhattan. Very strange!
As I chatted with our friends, we all commented on the fact that we cannot name a single neighborhood in Manhattan that is not gentrifying. Even those areas with a heavy load of low income housing projects are being inundated with upscale residences and the accompanying businesses. Swindlers Cove is an example of that change.Amazing change, isn't it.

We continued our journey but after Swindler's Cove I stopped taking pictures and we, for the most part, stopped playing tourist and just concentrated on riding. We worked our way down the east side of Manhattan, pausing to use the facilities at Carl Shurz park, and rode down and across the tip of the island. The last few miles were arduous, mainly because it was now mid-day and all of Manhattan seemed to be out and about on the waterfront. The crowds were such that we had to ride very carefully and spent the rest of the trip concentrating on not hitting runners, pedestrians, roller bladers and other cylists.

Total mileage: 34 miles bringing us up to 56 for the weekend.

The High Line and other Blatherings

I fully intended to show you some nice pictures of the High Line today. As I prepared to load them from my camera chip onto my computer, however, I somehow managed to fling the chip into the vast unknown. And so, if you wish to see the High Line, I suggest you go here instead.

A short while ago I gave up the search for the chip and instead set out to do some actual work -- writing end of year letters and such. It is, however, difficult to concentrate when people keep interrupting my thoughts as they play Zombies or write valedictory speeches. Yes, you read that correctly. Squidette is the valedictorian of her junior high school. Can you see my grin from there?

That said, it has been a quiet weekend with no one up for a bike ride. Instead, on Saturday,we took the subway uptown and hit Zabar's and a crafts fair. Squidette and I got some neat hairclips and then we walked home, capturing a real and a virtual geocache on the way.

Today we walked the High Line and failed to find a cache that was just placed on it. Then Squidette and I went out and bought a new dress for her awards ceremony next week. The Little Squid and I went out and bought a birthday present for Squidette. Then I came home and did laundry and attempted to add pictures to my blog.

I've just gotten Squidette to write silently for a while so I think I will try those letters again ...

Of Caching and Good Deeds

On this last day of break Squidette decided that she wanted to get in on the caching fun. As Squidette, Little Squid and I had a commitment at the synagogue, mid-morning, we decided to subway uptown on the west side and walk across Central Park to our destination, detouring for a cache or two.We aimed for two and found one on the first leg of our journey, then hustled across town for a little bit of Good Deed doing.
On our way across town we stopped briefly to admire Cleopatra's Needle and the crabs holding it upright.

Two hours later, deeds done, we grabbed sandwiches from a local shop and headed back to Central Park via a street side cache (really quick grab by Not-So-Little Squid) and ate our lunch al fresco next to the Alice in Wonderland Statue (where the cache had gone missing).
Onwards, past some pretty flowers, we hustled to another Did-not-find where we were met by Mike on his bike. He stayed with us while we hunted out and found another cache and then he rode back home while the kids and I attempted three more caches and found two for a total of 8 attempted and 5 found for the day. That makes 11 in the last three days!

Very little crafting got done but I do intend to now put on my audio book and do some prep work for the next set of carding. As I prep this roving I'm realizing that the dye did not soak in as much as I would have liked so I may wind up redying this once it is spun. I won't try it again now for fear of felting it.

On Thin Ice

Really! O.k., maybe not that thin.

After trying their hand (feet?) on the synthetic rink at Natural History, the Squidlings decided that they needed some real ice time.

So, off to The Pond it was. At 8:00 a.m.

Because I'm a nut, that's why.

Two hours later we turned around and came home.

Why no pictures of me? Because I'm the one with the camera! Oh, and I didn't skate. I sat inside knitting and listening to an audio book.
And Mike? He ran errands.

So why was I there? Just in case someone got a boo boo.

Really.

Sea, Air, Space and Squid

Already this week we've visited a couple of major tourist attractions and a minor one. Today we trekked off to see an old friend who had absent for the last 18 months. Back before her renovation, we'd visit the Intrepid once a year or so, walking up along the river to spend an hour or so among the planes and such.

Almost two years ago they closed her for renovations. Usually, when a museum undergoes a renovation, the structure remains in place. Not this one.

In order to rehabilitate the Intrepid, they first had to tow it to dry dock. The towing was supposed to be pro forma but they ran into snags when the propellers stuck in the mud. Ultimately, they did unstick her and off she went.

Now she's returned and better then ever. A fresh coat of paint, some shining up and reallocation of the exhibit space and our old friend is back with us.

We joined Mike's sister and her family at the Intrepid and immediately headed up to the flight deck. The planes on top have also been cleaned up. The stealth fighter was so clean that we could not even see it!

Just joking, here it is.

The kids tried out every model, switch and button that there was to try,

climbed a cargo net (except Squidette)

and hoped in and out of as many vehicles as were available.
They sat on a torpedo,
and lay in a space capsule.

I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all.

Our Favorite Museum

Continuing our stint as tourists in our own city, we ventured out today to the American Museum of Natural History, our very favorite NYC attraction.

We touched bases with old friends,

and made some new ones.
Gawked at the Origami,
and had some lunch.
Spied a stegosaurus,
and skated on plastic.
In 20 degree temps. Burr!
And then we saw this.
Smack in the middle of the street. 8th Avenue at 26th Street if anyone cares.

Tomorrow ... planes, trains and automobiles. Or not.

Tourists at Home

Continuing what we started yesterday, the Squid once again set out to be tourists in their own city.

Today's destination was the Transit Museum where, unlike yesterday, we have ventured before. The exhibits have not changed much but it is always fun to walk in and out of the old subway cars and play with the turnstiles.

Then we decided to walk back into Manhattan in order to get some Dim Sum at our favorite spot in Chinatown. My original thought was that it would be fun to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge in the falling snow. This was while I was still envisioning the snow as light and fluffy.

Look closely at the temperature in the photo above.

Our innate intelligence took over, however, and we took the Manhattan Bridge instead. The two bridges are mere blocks away in Brooklyn but considerably further apart in Manhattan with the Manhattan Bridge dumping one directly onto Canal Street and Chinatown. The wind was howling and the snow was NOT light and fluffy but rather hard and piercing. Mini drifts swirled around our feet as we descended from the bridge.

Walking quickly to our destination (or as quickly as the perpetually crowded streets of Chinatown will allow) we sat down and practically inhaled our dumplings and a whole pot of tea downed as we warmed up from the walk. Temps in Brooklyn as we crossed the bridge were 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 Celsius).

We then tramped around some more in search of red bean pastries for the kids and donuts and bialies for all.

Now home and warm we are settling in for a quiet New Year's Eve. May this year bring you nothing but good things!

Sunrise on Top of the City

We went for a little walk this morning. Leaving before sunrise, we hurried through deserted streets in order to catch this sunrise.

Sunrise with pigeon

Then we spent some time gawking at the views. Yes, we gawked like tourists.
Except instead of reading the cheat sheet, I quizzed the kids on what some of the buildings were.
Figured out where we were?
We see the very top of this building from Squidette's room. This will, when we ultimately sell this apartment, allow us to advertise it as having a view of ...

The Empire State Building!

Yes, it is true, this was the Squidlings first visit to the observation deck of the Empire State Building.