Sometimes I get really fed up with living here. Sometimes I wish I could get from Point A to Point B without having to rely on public transportation. Sometimes having my own big, new apartment with walk-in closets for less than I'm paying now doesn't sound so bad. Sometimes I just want simple tasks like doing my laundry or going to Ikea to not be a production that I have to plan my whole day around.
Last night was not one of those times. Lying in the grass in Central Park, listening to the New York Philharmonic play "Rhapsody In Blue" and selections from West Side Story, watching fireflies float lazily through the warm air, I felt perfectly content. When I hugged my friend goodbye later, I said, "This was magical." And for once, I wasn't being facetious.
People often ask me what I like best about living in New York, and I always have a hard time answering. Because it's those random, perfect moments that happen every now and then that make people so in love with this city. Running along the river at sunset, looking at the Rockefeller Christmas lights, people-watching in Columbus Circle--I freeze-frame those moments and put them in a mental album entitled This Is Why You Live Here (And Pay A Lot Of Money To Do So). And luckily, it's enough to get me through those other times that aren't quite so magical.
What a well-written post. And I'm not being sarcastic. I want my next New York experience to be better than my first.
ReplyDeleteI have never lived in New York, but your post gave me goosebumps. Sounds like a fabulous evening. Maybe someday I can come visit you in the Big Apple, and we can share a magical moment together =-)
ReplyDeleteYou hit it right on the head my friend. I usually love New York more than not. Fireflies are like unicorns to me - magical and don't seem real, except for that fireflies are real and unicorns aren't.
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