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I’m back from Governor’s Island.  Such a pretty island, for something which has been limited to serving as a military facility for over 200 years!  I’ve always known it as a place which housed the Coast Guard, but different branches of the military have used it going all the way back to the Revolution. 

It wasn’t easy getting the pictures I wanted. And while I struggled to get this shot my battery died.

The door to this area was padlocked, but there was a small opening, just a few inches, so I did my best to balance my camera inside that small opening. I couldn’t really see enough to focus and there simply wasn’t a lot of room to position the camera the way I would have liked.

That said, this will do very nicely.

This was inside Castle William, which was also at one time a prison.

“Not a bad prison, as prisons go,” I heard a tour guide say in the distance.  

But maybe the Confederate prisoners during the Civil War would have disagreed.

This lovely paint-crumbling porch was the location of a 1988 summit between Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, President Ronald Reagan, and President-elect George Bush (the dad, who doesn’t seem so bad now after the son).

It was strange standing there imagining it.  I live in such a place of such history, such big history.  And my life is so comparatively small.  I’m not putting myself or my life down, it is what it is.  I am not deciding the fate of nations. But people who do are all around me.

It wasn’t hard to imagine the former elegance of this building or this island, the whole place is beautiful.  

But I wonder why this building and all those in this particular row were allowed to waste away like this.

I looked inside for hints of its former splendor, and again, it wasn’t all that hard to imagine. I loved the understated beauty of the building.

Of the whole place.

Like this building,

so graceful and refined.

It was one of the few

we were allowed in

that has been maintained.

The forgotten library.

I wish I had stood back further.

And waited for the people

to leave the porch.

But my days of waiting hours

for the perfect shot, however,

are over.

Besides, there were other things

I wanted to see.

And then,

soon enough,

I was ready …
 
To go home! My fabulous home!

Now what do I do?  I was trying to practice my choir pieces.  But Finney managed to not only cover my music, he got part of him on my keyboard as well.  Clearly this is a sign to get up and out of the house on this lovely day.  I was thinking of going to Governor’s Island.

I’ve noticed that whenever I look up, no one is ever standing in those balconies that adorn so many buildings in the city.

And on my desk at this moment:

– A copy of Infinite Jest.  (When I’m finished with my current book I will give this a try.)

– Another book called Swan Song (from Howard).

– A picture of Maggie Gyllenhaal, because when and if I get my eyebrows down, hers are what I’m shooting for.

– A map. To look at periodically so in case someone ever asks me to point out Iraq on a map I will be able to.

– A bowl of cats toys.  So when the cat start acting evil and I’m trying to work I can throw things to distract them.

– A file of recipes. Ha.  Yeah. Dream on.  But there was this blueberry swirl pie thing! 

– A pile of pages torn out from magazines which include: an article about non-invasive things you can do to your face like IPL and LED, an article about a restaurant I want to try called Ilili, an article about a fitness test I should take and where to get meds if you don’t have that insurance prescription option and pay full price.

That reminds me, I rarely have to buy prescription drugs, but last year, when I did, I freaked out because the drugs were WAY expensive.  I looked into adding that prescription drug option to my insurance, and I added up what I was going to spend on these VERY expensive meds for a year, and what I would spend monthly for the prescription drug option and it was still cheaper to pay full price for the meds.  I called the pharmacist back and said nevermind, I did the math and I’d be paying full price.  He said, “I wish more people would do the math.”  Meaning, you really have to spend a lot every month to make that thing worthwhile.  I suspect as I age I will be, but for now it doesn’t make sense.

I mean, look at this.  A pretty little terrace, probably a nice place to sit, but look at the rest of this building.

That brick!  Or siding, or whatever the hell it is??  What do I know??

And this on top of a 99 cent store.  You know, these stores might be fun to shop in. I should shut up and go inside,  I’ll bet it’s like the 5 and 10s of my youth. Okay, I’ll go to one and report back.

There’s a block fair on Bleecker right now, as I type, and usually I am never tempted by anything sold at these things, but there are the prettiest, prettiest tie-dyed tshirts down there right now and I WANT ONE.  The colors are gorgeous, and the tie-dye pattern very subtle and understated.  Not Grateful Dead-y at all. (Not there’s anything wrong with that. I’m a Dead fan.  But fashion-wise, they were not a good influence.)

I think I might shower and shop. Hmm. Shower and Shop. Should be a title of something.