Day 5 Sauntering through the City
"Dude, that is not that big." I woke up as soon as I heard Eric enter our hotel room, and then felt his hands pat the upper portion of my back...a-not-so-light-tapping on my freshly scarred skin. I called him a bastard and we all laughed together; then him and Chris inspected my new tattoo together. Eric commented that it was not that big, while Chris looked at him and gave a contrasted opinion. I took it all in and knew the truth...while it was not as big as I first intended, I am still glad I did not go any bigger. In the end, I was the one who was under the needle for three hours.
I washed my back, threw on some neo-sporin, and gingerly pulled a t-shirt over my head. We smoked some cigarettes, smoked a little something-something, and rapped about the years that have passed since we last saw Eric. Time passed slowly, time crawled by, and time lazily reminded us how important friends are: That when you are amongst them, you must see that you have all the time you need.
We ambled through various portions of New York City, and finally decided to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant in China Town. We filled our stomachs and headed to the Financial District to take a peep at what most people unfortunately consider a tourist attraction now: The remains of the World Trade Towers.
We walked for another half-hour, smoking cigarettes like a newborn sucks on a pacifier, and finally reached our destination. Man, it was an amazing sight...all around you in New York there are constant reminders of concrete, mirrored glass, tall billboards, and everything is in a competition to be higher than everything else. Then, boom, all of a sudden, you are standing in front of a monument of what were once the tallest buildings in the world...and now there are only the carcass of a concrete slab.
I think what hit me the most was not the destruction of neighbouring buildings, nor photographs of what the towers most resembled. No, to me, the image that to this day still sticks in my memory, was the framework of a steel girder that remained from the implosion...and I think of all the people who lost their lives, who lost their loved ones. My heart slowed its beating so as not to disturb their rest, we paid our respects, and then we were off again. We spent some more time with Eric at his apartment, hung out and smoked some more cigarettes, and then followed his directions to the subway and our way home.
Not too long after that, Chris and I decided to head our separate ways for the evening: Him to a jazz bar and me to locate a 24-hour Kinkos so I could send a paper back to Halifax via email. I looked at the address in a phone book, stuffed my books into my backpack, threw on some warm clothes, and headed out into the New York night...and promptly got lost in a New York minute.
It felt like I was wandering around the same block, but it was only a different portion of a grid...sound confusing? You would have to be in my shoes to truly understand I guess. Everytime I thought I was on the right street, I would be wrong, and every set of directions seemed to get me closer and closer...but never close enough. Finally, I strolled into a StarBucks, and ordered a rice-krispy square and a tall coffee. The clerks told me that since it was the last square that I could have it for free, and heck, gave me the coffee for free as well. I gave my thanks, laughed at my luck, and headed outside with a renewed need to find the Kinkos.
For the next hour, I walked around and around what seem to be the same block, but oh, the sights I saw: Madison Square Garden, The Empire State Building, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and my favourite: The New York Public Library. It spanned an entire city block on its own, and as I walked around it, I knew of a person who would enjoy the view with me. Someone who had just entered my life, and someone who will know who they are as they read this. She was in my thoughts as I sipped my coffee, and she was on my mind as I thought of how we could wile away many an hour reading there together...giggling as we became lost together.
Finally, I found the Kinkos, and spent the next hour and a half typing out my paper. I saved it, hit send, and made my way out into the darkened night. My mission was accomplished, my goal achieved, and now all that remained was to find my way home again.
My heart bounced around my soul, free of constraints, and knowing my path was well-lit...and I laughed. Life, man, I tell you, life and what it does to me. It is so truly amazing to me people, it takes my breath away and offers me a better one in return. Do you see what I see? Do you know that for every struggle, no matter how hard it may be, that there will always be a better way? Deep dig and find that well of knowledge within; delve deeper, and turn it into the wisdom you have always carried with you...walk tall, walk proud, but most importantly, keep walking forward. Until we meet again, people, until we meet again.
"Been dying since the day I was born
Cause there is no road that ain't a hard road to travel on."
- Sam Roberts
"Dude, that is not that big." I woke up as soon as I heard Eric enter our hotel room, and then felt his hands pat the upper portion of my back...a-not-so-light-tapping on my freshly scarred skin. I called him a bastard and we all laughed together; then him and Chris inspected my new tattoo together. Eric commented that it was not that big, while Chris looked at him and gave a contrasted opinion. I took it all in and knew the truth...while it was not as big as I first intended, I am still glad I did not go any bigger. In the end, I was the one who was under the needle for three hours.
I washed my back, threw on some neo-sporin, and gingerly pulled a t-shirt over my head. We smoked some cigarettes, smoked a little something-something, and rapped about the years that have passed since we last saw Eric. Time passed slowly, time crawled by, and time lazily reminded us how important friends are: That when you are amongst them, you must see that you have all the time you need.
We ambled through various portions of New York City, and finally decided to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant in China Town. We filled our stomachs and headed to the Financial District to take a peep at what most people unfortunately consider a tourist attraction now: The remains of the World Trade Towers.
We walked for another half-hour, smoking cigarettes like a newborn sucks on a pacifier, and finally reached our destination. Man, it was an amazing sight...all around you in New York there are constant reminders of concrete, mirrored glass, tall billboards, and everything is in a competition to be higher than everything else. Then, boom, all of a sudden, you are standing in front of a monument of what were once the tallest buildings in the world...and now there are only the carcass of a concrete slab.
I think what hit me the most was not the destruction of neighbouring buildings, nor photographs of what the towers most resembled. No, to me, the image that to this day still sticks in my memory, was the framework of a steel girder that remained from the implosion...and I think of all the people who lost their lives, who lost their loved ones. My heart slowed its beating so as not to disturb their rest, we paid our respects, and then we were off again. We spent some more time with Eric at his apartment, hung out and smoked some more cigarettes, and then followed his directions to the subway and our way home.
Not too long after that, Chris and I decided to head our separate ways for the evening: Him to a jazz bar and me to locate a 24-hour Kinkos so I could send a paper back to Halifax via email. I looked at the address in a phone book, stuffed my books into my backpack, threw on some warm clothes, and headed out into the New York night...and promptly got lost in a New York minute.
It felt like I was wandering around the same block, but it was only a different portion of a grid...sound confusing? You would have to be in my shoes to truly understand I guess. Everytime I thought I was on the right street, I would be wrong, and every set of directions seemed to get me closer and closer...but never close enough. Finally, I strolled into a StarBucks, and ordered a rice-krispy square and a tall coffee. The clerks told me that since it was the last square that I could have it for free, and heck, gave me the coffee for free as well. I gave my thanks, laughed at my luck, and headed outside with a renewed need to find the Kinkos.
For the next hour, I walked around and around what seem to be the same block, but oh, the sights I saw: Madison Square Garden, The Empire State Building, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and my favourite: The New York Public Library. It spanned an entire city block on its own, and as I walked around it, I knew of a person who would enjoy the view with me. Someone who had just entered my life, and someone who will know who they are as they read this. She was in my thoughts as I sipped my coffee, and she was on my mind as I thought of how we could wile away many an hour reading there together...giggling as we became lost together.
Finally, I found the Kinkos, and spent the next hour and a half typing out my paper. I saved it, hit send, and made my way out into the darkened night. My mission was accomplished, my goal achieved, and now all that remained was to find my way home again.
My heart bounced around my soul, free of constraints, and knowing my path was well-lit...and I laughed. Life, man, I tell you, life and what it does to me. It is so truly amazing to me people, it takes my breath away and offers me a better one in return. Do you see what I see? Do you know that for every struggle, no matter how hard it may be, that there will always be a better way? Deep dig and find that well of knowledge within; delve deeper, and turn it into the wisdom you have always carried with you...walk tall, walk proud, but most importantly, keep walking forward. Until we meet again, people, until we meet again.
"Been dying since the day I was born
Cause there is no road that ain't a hard road to travel on."
- Sam Roberts
