"There is some blue sky, let us chase it!"

September 3, 2013

Dear Jane,

My first full day living in New York was anything but boring, or dry! Hillary (my roommate) and I spent a leisurely morning getting ready and making plans for the day.  It all seemed very nonchalant; Hillary suggested we go for a walk to find a park that's (somewhat) nearby.  Incidentally, we were very fortunate to happen upon a street fair about two blocks from where we live as we began our travels! All was going swimmingly (and I use that term loosely at this point).  I should point out that the sky was a hazy, medium gray color.

The park was about twenty blocks from where we live (which is apparently nothing when you live in the city- oy vey) and we found it, no problem.  It was a beautiful spot (although we saw someone having a bit of a breakdown on a corner in front of it- poor thing, wasn't anything we could really do to help). We walked all through the park and down to the water front below the bridge. It was amazing, and not to mention about ten degrees cooler than everywhere else (it was a very humid day). Hillary wisely suggested we consider turning back since the sky was darkening by the moment, but I, being the kind of girl who does not often go on long walks replied, "Girl, once I go for a walk, I go." I honestly thought that the impending rain would hold off! Anyways, Jane, we definitely had a Marianne and Margaret Dashwood kind of day (although Hillary and I kept switching between the roles).
  

             "Marianne:  Come, I'm taking you on a walk.

              Margaret:  No, I've been on a walk.

              Marianne:  You need another.

             Margaret:  It's going to rain.

             Marianne:  It is NOT going to rain.

             Margaret:  You ALWAYS say that, and then it ALWAYS does."

              (Sense & Sensibility, 1995)

If you know the book and/or the movie, then you know what happens next in this story...that's right, a handsome stranger comes out of no where and carries me back twenty blocks to our apartment! Alright, alright, that is not exactly what happened in my story. This is what really happened:

1. It started to rain lightly- No big deal. I had a small umbrella, so, obviously no problem there...
2. It started to rain not so lightly- I told you, I had an umbrella.
3. A huge bolt of lightening cracked with some loud thunder- ummm, I had an umbrella?
4. The heavens opened up- My umbrella was deemed null and void by mother nature.
5. We were soaked and my shoes became water-logged. 
6. It was a very far walk/light jog in the pouring rain.
7. This is where our Willoughby (the hero of the moment) comes in: A nice man, who seemed to be a wounded veteran in a wheel chair, told us which subway stop we were at. Thank you sir!
8. Got off subway after one stop, and had another very far walk (it seemed farther than it truly was because the sky was still throwing cat and dog sized droplets of rain at us).

We eventually returned back to the apartment soaked to the bone, but still in good spirits! Who doesn't love a good, crazy "first full day in New York" story? The rest of the afternoon was relatively tame compared to our earlier adventure. Hillary and I ate some lunch (made by Hillary- very yummy-very vegetarian-I'm not very vegetarian-I eat meat) and applied to jobs/auditions & looked for permanent apartments. It truly is not fair that one does not have a dowry ready for when one moves out, as one did when one got married, back in the old days. Actually, I guess I do have a dowry, it's called a savings account, but I don't want it all to go away! Ah, and that is why we were applying for jobs, I remember now- we've come full circle.

That evening, I exercised with Hillary in the living room and boy, oh boy was I not prepared for that. Mind you, this was after we had already taken a SECOND walk...city living is going to take some getting used to. I should mention that Hillary is very in shape and I am very not in shape. We did two circuit training sets (is that even how you describe those?) and they were very difficult to say the least. Lots of laughing and occasional cursing ensued and that was that. 

It was an interesting day to say the least, and I'm proud to say that no matter how hard it rained, I still stood by Marianne's quote (that I was determined to repeat all day long), "There is some blue sky, let us chase it!" 

Yours Faithfully,

Amanda

Top Pic:       The Queensboro Bridge (we think!)

Bottom Pic: Hillary (R) and I (L) seeking coverage under 

                     a metal awning...best idea in a storm?

                     Probably not.