Gray day in
New York and feeling very autumnal all of a sudden.
From all accounts, leaves
have been turning for weeks - I just haven't noticed them until now. On the day
of my dad's surgery, my mother and I were careening through Central Park in a
taxi when it suddenly occurred to me how beautiful this time of year is when the
light hits the yellow ginko leaves and radiates warmth. I feel like a big brown
bear climbing out of its den after a long nap - I've been lumbering about,
sniffing the change, hungry to get back into the swing of things
again.
There are
days when I feel full of love for the beauty and humanity of this city. Last
night Fauxhawk told me that our Yemeni newspaper guy ran out of his store to ask
after my dad. "My friend, how is my friend's father?" Fauxhawk warned me that
there was a thirty percent chance that I would cry after hearing this story,
and, like clockwork, I cried (and felt grateful that I wasn't stoic and silent
during this process). When I walked down my yellow ginko-lined streed this
morning to say hello to my Yemeni newspaper man, he grinned, waved, and called
out "THANKS GOD!" in the most wonderful, triumphant way. So touching.
Thanks God
for lovely friends. And changing leaves. And beautiful gray
autumnal days.
(Also: thanks God for Peppermint Patties, jelly beans, awesome
assistants, humorless surgeons, kickass nurses, your sweet comments, and
beautiful photography by Marc Yankus included here (via the excellent Living
Lab).
