02.21.09
In This City of Tall and Grey
NYC has stayed with me. In fleeting thoughts and memories my brief 24-hour trip there at the end of January has remained. I managed a remarkable amount of activity in the time period, intending to make the most of the time I had available.
Way back when. This was, for all accounts and purposes, my “first” trip there. I’ve actually been to New York before, when my father did some work there with the company formerly known as just JP Morgan. In fact, my earliest memory comes from this time. I remember rich and dark wallpaper, a vintage-looking light fixture and watching a cartoon — a hotel room. Some of my earliest photos are of my family in Central Park, me just a little toddler in a pram.
I can see why people live there. Over the years, a few opportunities and signs led me to think that all roads lead to New York City. I resisted it for a while before it no longer drew me opting to somehow make a mark of sorts, of whatever kind, in Chicago. I feared on some level that it would be too urban, too much concrete and overall just too much. And perhaps because I was there for a little over 24 hours, this was not the case. There was much to do and see (obviously). One of America’s greatest cities? Yes.
Ghosts of a past that never happened. I almost went to New York for school but it was not to be and Chicago got me instead. While I walked the streets and passed the buildings that belong to NYU, I thought about what life would have been like if I had started out in this city instead. What trajectory would life have taken? These were fleeting moments of curiosity, not to be confused with regret or its ilk. For the life I have now and the person I am now is in large part because of Chicago.
It’s the people. Like any place, one judges it by certain factors. The biggest for me is the people you find in a place. And even better when you have friends there. I had somewhat forgotten how many people I actually knew in NYC and it was both surprising but welcoming to know that I’d be seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I saw as many as I could but it wasn’t enough. Know that I’ll return with a vengeance.
When I fly, I enjoy take-off the most. That feeling. The other thing I enjoy most about flying is when the descent starts and you see your destination slowly revealing itself below you. Coming into NYC has one of the best approaches I’ve seen, heading out over the water and seeing the ships, tankers and cargo holders out there clustered then receding as the plane makes its way to JFK. JFK was the first airport stateside I’d ever been to, when I was both a child and later when I’d return. There’s a cyclical nature to that, like bookending an era. It’s only fitting given what lies ahead.
