lester

connected meanderings
2007-11-14 23:08:11 (UTC)

trip to New York, New Jersey & Boston

On the entire trip, all went according to plan with no
delays, changes, or complications. So I focus on the
events and impressions.

1. 11/7/07 We had a wonderful tour of the UN with a
British army officer who took us down on the floor of the
Security Council with picture ops there. Very much a UN
advocate and we took his picture before the rent bullet-
torn UN flag that resulted in 22 UN deaths in Baghdad in
2003.

Then onto the Museum of Modern Art where the exhibit I'd
wished to see was already over but as mentioned before,
Martin Puryear the sculptor and GEorges Seurat the
pointellist were on display (mostly Seurat's pleine aire
drawings with conte crayons on paper) and both very
worthwhile. Found the review of the two shows in the New
Yorker upon return. I pasted it in the Puryear book that I
purchased. Later we ate at a vegetarian Japanese
restaurant off 8th Ave and then went to a play, The
Receptionist, that showed the banality of office life and
politics with a horror easily around the corner.

2. 11/8/07 Again we walked everywhere. My walk on a lovely
fall day with many photographs took me to Central Park.
Decided to not go the Metropolitan Museum of Art (outside
was too attractive) and instead wandered south along
Madison AVenue, stopping into a gallery where the
paintings like fabric turned out to be oil in lots of
turpentine. Beautiful effects.

Then the train to Westchester and my last session of the
fellows committee for GAP. Several fellows thanked me for
the mentoring they felt they'd gained (I was just being
myself!).

3. 11/9/07 GAP and its research committee. Very endorsing
of what I've been doing and made me feel boosted in a way
I hadn't expected. So doubly good. BAnquet that night
meant I spent a long conversation with Fred Wamboldt from
Denver.

4. 11/10/07 Saturday early research committee meeting and
then a visit to Beccy in New Jersey. Serena there for the
day (had been a foster daughter, now aged 4), good to see
Ritchie (her son aged 13) and Jon, Beccy's husband. Also
Christa aged 18 was home from college. I did some work of
laying some flagstone and transporting some large chunks
of wood. (She knows I like doing that, in the mode of my
dad). She fixed a lovely dinner and had her mother and
brother in law over for dessert; then we took Serena to
her home.

5. 11/11/07 Sunday meant a trip by train to Boston while
giving Christa a ride back to campus (she goes to Kean
College). Did get on a local not Amtrak train but not a
problem as we switched in NY's Penn Station. Lovely day so
nice scenery. Long rays of the sun softens and makes gold
the landscape (or waterscape, as the case also was).
Martha picked us up and we interacted very pleasantly not
only with AMy (Martha's marital partner), but with Amy's
Ella aged 9 and Georgia aged 4, both lovely spunky
youngsters with great self possession and senses of style.

6. 11/12/07 MOnday. Martha's twins came at 10 -- Sam and
Maggie both aged 9 years (a bit younger than Ella). I
played catch and talked ball (foot and base) with Sam who
was very happy the Red Sox won the series and he'd been at
Fenway Park for one of the games. He'll be for the Packers
unless they play the Patriots and I'm the same way. WE
went for a long walk to the Jamaica Plain Pond. Susie and
I took the family out for dinner and Vinnie (Beccy's
oldest, now 21 came too). We were very impressed with the
maturity shown by both Christa and Vinnie. Vinnie, in love
with sociology, wishes me to read a book on the third
place, which I found to my surprise to read very well.
Worked on it on our way home on 11/13/07.

7. No cold today: that's notable because we encountered
many who did have over the trip with lots of sniffling and
coughing and red eyes. The little girl Serena had mucus
running out and snorted it out in a manner learned from
boys in her family. Thought, yesterday morning, that I had
the beginnings, but as the day went on nothing eventuated.
I was pleased as I believe my fasting every other day has
improved my immune system and this tends to support that
idea.




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