My #1 fear is the acceleration of days.
No such thing supposedly, but I swear I can feel it.
~ Jenny Offill, Weather: A Novel (Knopf, February 11, 2020)
Photo: “Angel A 27” by Phillippe Conquet
Tag: Jenny Offill
It’s been a long day
Notes:
- Photo: Ostdrossel with a wet Blue Jay. Her site never fails to amaze.
- Quote via The Vale of Soul Making
- Related Posts: It’s been a long day
Riding Metro North. Searching, for Important.
Jenny Offill : “To live in a city is to be forever flinching.”
Tuesday morning.
A brisk walk to train station. 32 F feels like 26 F. No snow, no slush, no sleet. Dry. January. I’ll take this all day, all winter long.
5:48 am train to Grand Central.
Plenty of empty seats.
I slide by her into a seat next to the window.
She offers me a smile, and tucks her legs in to let me pass.
I nod, offering my thanks.
She’s reading a soft cover book, verses of some sort. I can’t make it out. 98% of the rest of us are heads down into our gadgets.
She’s wearing a long (long), black puffer coat, that drapes down to the top of her black boots. A black knit cap. A knitted scarf wrapped around her neck. She’s in her late 60’s to mid 70’s would be my guess. She turns the page. Why am I so distracted by her? Her elbows and knees are tucked in, and she’s sitting comfortably in her lane. Lady @ Peace comes to mind.
But for the industrial heaters blowing warm air through the ceiling vents, the train car is silent.
She gets up in anticipation of her stop.
The vestibule is crowded with passengers waiting to get off.
She waits quietly at the back of the line. Continue reading “Riding Metro North. Searching, for Important.”
Walking Downtown. With Air to be reckoned with.
Jenny Offill describes her mood…”she’s tired all the time now…she can feel how slow she is walking, as if the air itself is something to be reckoned with.” I read the passage a week ago. And Mind keeps flipping it back.
Sleep app congratulates me this morning on seven consecutive days of hitting sleep targets. Grooving a routine. And it’s working. I’m sleeping.
But, tired all the time.
Lower Manhattan this morning.
40+ F, but don’t get caught out without a coat. Frigid winds blow through the tunnels between the hulking skyscrapers.
Colleagues take the subway to a client meeting: It’s only two stops!
I let them go. I need to walk. Shoulder stiff. Neck aches. Need to be alone.
A lifetime, swift walker. But not lately. Like a glider banking energy, I’m waiting for a tail wind, or even a gust.
Not my photo above, I couldn’t muster up my own shot. I pause to watch the tourists take their shots with the Bull. In all the years, this is the first time you’ve stopped (paused) to admire him. You are a beaut Mr. Bull.
Bullfighter or the Bull? Red cape, the muleta. God Save the Bull.
Three minutes to destination.
I take a take breath and step into the building.
Game time.
Photo: Alexander Nilssen, Bull of Wall Street