New York sometimes feels like a roaring beast to me, it just pulsates with noise and energy, so far from the feeling of the farm, I walked past this construction site in Brooklyn in the pouring rain and it was just alive, like a giant hive, clanking, banging shouting at 10 p.m., more people hammering away in there than live within miles of me.
Walking in Central Park, Maria and I got separated, she went to take a video with her Iphone, I wanted to shoot skyscrapers through the mist, when I came to this tunnel, I saw her on the other side taking her video, I loved the image of us meeting in this way, it is a creative connection – here literally.
On my walk, the gorgeous old hotels of Central Park East loomed over the park, appearing and disappearing out of the mist, I thought, these are the loveliest images I could ever want to photograph, they had so much majesty and dignity and presence, they speak of a time when people had so much pride in the buildings they built.
On my early morning walk, I saw Carnegie Hall framed by several skyscrapers whose upper floors had been swallowed up in the mist, Carnegie Hall was an imposing image among these towers, the famed old Concert Hall seemed to be making a statement about permanence version fashion.
We came back from New York City Saturday, navigating torrential downpours to get to the Chatham Public Library in New York to talk about “Second Chance Dog,” it was the official end of my book tour, we got a full house from brave souls who ignored the rains. As has been the custom, we experienced just about every kind of weather there is on our trip – bitter cold, rains, sub-zero winds, and today, 50 wet degrees. I had great fun taking photos of Central Park in the mist. It was an intense and compelling trip.
We saw two movies – “Her,” and “Inside Llewyn Davis,” – I’ll write about them both later, we got to a museum or two, I met with Jesse Dailey, my friend and the subject of my book “Geeks” who is awaiting trial on charges he groped two young girls on the street. I’ll write more about that also. We spend time with my daughter Emma and her boyfriend. I have to decide whether or not to back to New York on Wednesday to show my face for a pre-trial hearing for Jesse in State Supreme Court.
On the way home, Deb Foster, our farm and pet-sitter, texted a bulletin, Friday let her rub her belly for an hour. That is pretty big news.
I returned to a flood of online diagnoses of Red’s current issues. As some of you know, I’m not big on diagnosing animals via computer but I do appreciate the concern and good will. Red does not have diabetes or Cushing’s disease as so many of you believe. We are going back to the vet on Monday to go over his condition and come up with a plan. My big concern is his sudden weight gain (thanks but I do not need to hear your diagnoses, I’ll let the vet figure it out). I thinking it’s a behavioral, not a medical issue, we’ll see.
The trip was exhausting and fruitful. Had a great breakfast with Hannah Elnan, my editor at Random House, it was so good to see her in the flesh, I struggle with the new publishing ethos of communicating via e-mail, that is not a creative process for me. I also met Victoria Allen, who designs the covers for my books. The trip re-connecting me to my world of publishing and writing, with which I sometimes become disconnected.
Seeing Jesse was intense, it is such a rough thing he is going through. I’ll write more about it tomorrow. I got some nice photos, I’ll put them up tonight or tomorrow. Good to be back on the blog. I love New York, and have three blisters to prove it.
