Dropping Some NYC - Again

​Thanks to the pandemic, it had been a great while since I’d gotten together with anybody from CoSP (five months, when Michelle and I met for dinner that Indian taco restaurant in the East Village).  My last trip in NY was mostly spent on lockdown, and I still managed to catch the Omicron.  But this year, as things are opening up, I feel I should get back to doing the things I enjoy doing, like hiking, shopping, and meeting up with my fellow singletons.  This particular was my second outing with Laura, my fellow CoSPer from Brooklyn.
 
After a day of work on my tenure packet, and of course, writing, I took the New Jersey Transit to Hoboken and caught a path across the Hudson to Christopher Street, from which I walked to Poke Bowl on Canal Street.  Usually, I start my trips to Manhattan by indulging in an authentic NYC pizza slice and a street hot dog, but I’m trying to be somewhat good. 
 
I got to the spot at about a quarter to 6, fifteen minutes before our meeting time, and as I was getting ready to text Laura, she appeared.  I got this lovely miso chicken and shrimp combo, mixed with some green vegetables.  While eating, Laura and I shared our future adventures, and I’m enthralled and impressed by the amount of biking she does (i.e.; triple-digit-mile treks through Pennsylvania).  I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was eleven; when I moved to DC, I became a Capital Bikeshare subscriber, and for me, riding from my apartment in Van Ness to Dupont Circle is an adventure.  I’ve got a bunch of concerts and hiking planned, and as I write, I realize there are many ways to adventure through singlehood (yes, I used the word “adventure” as a verb). 

​We walked over to Ferrara’s in Little Italy.  She got a truffle cake, while I ordered my customary chocolate-dipped cannoli.  We sat on bench in a little covered area, where we got real about singlehood, which is a conversation that always ignites lots of emotions.  Excitement, anger, passion, all at once.  Then the “monsoon” came; rain, thunder, lightning, which enabled our conversation to continue.  Between Laura’s umbrella and my rain jacket, we were one prepared being. 
 

​Eventually, we decided to brave the raindrops, and it started to lighten a tad.  Not wanting to traverse through puddles, when we parted ways, I decided to brave the subway to get to the PATH, and my brief jaunt on the Q line reminded me of a brief shot in Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America, where we see a subway adorned with graffiti, which was characteristic of 1980s New York City.  It wasn’t quite as violated, but my fellow passengers included a dude sleeping across three seats and another guy yelling in gibberish and cursing to the air.  Not quite the subway I remember.
 
Anywho, as I walked from Union Square to the 9th Street PATH, the rain turned to a light drizzle, and I was at peace, as I always am when I hang another CoSPer.  Laura, you rock!