Missing NYC: Riding Out the Storm

Tonight I miss New York City.  I lived in New York for 14 years, most of the time living on the top floor of a 15-story apartment building in midtown Manhattan with a wide open view of the Empire State Building.  I just moved here to sunny, temperate Del Mar, California, a little over 2 years ago.  A few days ago I received my official California state driver’s license.  The more I settle into California, the more I miss New York, especially at the crucial stepping stones.

It’s 22 degrees in New York City tonight, 57 degrees in Del Mar.  Granted the blizzard turned into a typical winter snow in the city, but still it’s snowing in New York, and I miss the snow, and the cold and the grittiness.  The toughness of it all.  The camaraderie.  The “we’re all in this together” attitude.  The drive and energy.  The charge.

Here, we all walk our individual walks along the cliffs above the ocean at sunset, striding calmly, no worries.  Maybe at most, petting a dog or two, saying “hi” to a person or two.  No big deal. Nothing to stress over.  Nothing to talk about.

I watch the colors of the ocean, the sky, the sand, the flowers, and they take my breath away.  Radiant, translucent, vibrant pastels.  Sweet sage-and-ocean-filled air.

There I checked the colors of the Empire State Building every night, often wondering what they stood for, which ethnic group was being honored, what holiday, sometimes looking up the answers online, and looking out at the lights, listening to the traffic, feeling the buildings all around me, the grid, the movement, “the dance of the charged energy particles,” as my friend Barry would say.

I miss the food.  El Parador, Wild Edibles, La Giara, Cosette, Naya Express, Libretto’s—my neighborhood restaurants.  Each particular taste right on the tip of my tongue.

And I miss the people.  All the people I would never know as we walked past one another.  People I sort of knew, enough to greet.  And people I knew very well, from the inside out and outside in, and who I will always love.

I am glad the storm wasn’t as bad as expected, and the city can go on about its business and be itself in every way again. Thank you New York.  You are a rock.