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January 12, 2006

Winter break

The cold weather has interrupted this blog, indirectly at least. I tend not to walk on my lunch hour these days. And even now that it's a little warmer, the fact that I've gotten out of the habit of walking around has limited my observations for this blog. Today will be different, though. I feel so stiff and bloated ... I HAVE to get out. But when I leave 410 State Street, which way should I go? There are so many good options.

I used to work in Midtown Manhattan, where I would also wander and observe. I loved taking the elevator to the lobby and then deciding, east, west, north or south. West took me to Times Square, with all the tourists but lots of good peoplewatching. East took me to the U.N. building, also fun, with more relaxed and sophisticated neighborhoods. I'd stroll by Kate Hepburn's brownstone, or walk through Tudor City. If I were going south, sometimes I'd hoof it all the way to Houston Street. No tourists there! Just "us locals." And of course, north meant going to the Bloomingdales neighborhood, or maybe even the Upper East Side, with those beautiful townhouses and buildings.

Being in Bridgeport, I have the dilemma. One way takes me to Christ Church on State Street, where chapel is open during the day sometimes. Another way gets me to Golden Hill, where the most beautiful church I can imagine resides, a little Methodist church that looks like it was towed away from the Yale campus. I can also get downtown and check out the progress on the Citytrust block and walk over the Ralph 'n Rich's next location across from the Barnum Museum, with the dim home that time has sped forward and they're already open. Or I can go to the Housatonic campus and see their latest art exhibit ... or City Lights Gallery and fantasize about buying something for my bare walls ... or browse the historical collections at the library (our newspaper left behind some really interesting copies now viewable in microfilm!) ... or on a really nice day, sit at McLevy Green and zone out.

My last job was at a leafy office park in upscale Wilton, which was lovely, but given the choice, give me a job in a real, live city!

Posted by lsteele on 10:50 AM | Comments (306)