BETWEEN TREKS TO MAINE AND NEW JERSEY I haven’t been home much in recent weeks, which contributed to my mind wandering as I passed a store and the voice in my head (one of them) said, The bride would rock this outfit.
Spied it Sunday on a walk around Jersey City with the new nuclear family.
That’s D1, SO1 and D1D1, and lower Manhattan across the Hudson. The Jersey City waterfront makes for a pleasant stroll. The city is reclaiming and opening up new sections all the time.
It goes on & on. SO1 got this shot with his iPhone.
Look up in any direction and see the building boom booming. According to the local rag, Jersey City added 3,000 luxury condos last year and will break ground on another 3,000 before 2015 is out. Dunno where working stiffs are going to live, I hear the 4 a.m. bus from the Poconos is already pretty crowded, but kudos to the Greater New York luxury condo class.
Dunno how much of that is marketing hype. Anything up high is probably called “luxury” even if it’s ordinary. The one-bedroom bargain variety start at half a million, and the monthly fees amount to a second mortgage. Better have beaucoup dough coming in the door if you want to make your stand in or around NYC. Or, get used to thinking of the commute as your 20-hour-a-week part time job.
The waterfront’s lively. This crowd turned out for Holi, the Indian festival of colors.
On my bucket list: getting splashed in Holi colors while motorcycling across India, followed by a dunk in the Ganges. At one time I had a slew of Indian biker friends on Facebook who were trying to get me over there. I haven’t been on FB in recent years, but India remains on the radar. They said c’mon over, we’ll ride up to the wilds of Arunachal Pradesh, which the Chinese claim is China but Indians know full well is India. We’ll moon the border guards and see if we can get them to take pot shots at us across the frontier. I said hell yes I want to do that.
Gotta knock off South America first. Haven’t heard from ol’ CCjon in Houston on that score lately but I assume we’re still on for November.
New York, New York, where cultures from around the globe meet: An Indian dancer, a 1,776-foot monument to world trade, and a macabre war memorial to Polish POWs murdered by Soviets in 1940.
D1D1, my little big-city girl, 13 weeks of age this past Saturday. Blink and it’ll be 13 years. Life, as you must know by now, is zippy. She’s smiling at her mom here, my firstborn D1.
Zippy zippy zippy. That’s D1 on your right, D2 on the left, little D3 was home with the bride. The situation was the Ayatollah owed me, so without a big to-do about it I was able to finagle some time off from the Iranian Revolution, hijack a plane (wielding a knapsack full of poopy diapers, oddly enough) and make it home in time for the annual father/daughter dance at the Daniel D. Waterman Elementary School.
D1D1 on her way into the world, from wherever it is we may come from, and wherever it is we may go. With this zippy part in between.
Today marks 11 days in Jersey City. D1D1 starts daycare tomorrow so my services here are complete. Now it’s through the Holland Tunnel, north along the west shore of the great magnetic rock, grab I-95 and head east & north for home. Will leave within the hour, aim to be home by midnight.
I think she grew this whole head of hair in the last 11 days.
Better angle on the ‘do. Funny how kids seem to change right before your eyes at this age.
She made that little scratch near her eye with a fingernail. D1 did her best to trim them last evening. Delicate work, that.
We had fun days together. I’ll never forget how much the little girl likes the Righteous Brothers. She likes to be burped to the beat of Little Latin Lupe Lu. I think she especially likes the line that says, She’s my groovy little baby!
But after this time spent with D1D1, I think the Bill Medley song I’ll always associate with her is See That Girl.
See that girl?
Look at her good
That’s something you don’t see
every day, now
Dig those eyes
Ain’t they a prize?
They sure can get to you
And, hey now
Look at that crazy smile
I bet you can’t believe
She was mine for a while
Tony DePaul, March 31, 2015, Jersey City, NJ
Always some laughs and now some “aw” moments. And often a combination of the two. Btw, I loved the pic of your daughter and her daughter at the apartment door, a post or two ago, with the funny, wry comment. You never know what offhand comment of yours is going to stick and resonate, Tony; I just saw this headline in the LA Times this morning: “In Alaska, a wood bison is born in the wild, the first in a century.” Off on its zippy ride!
Now if the Times only carried The Phantom..
Postscript: I made it home to the humble manse at 2:40 a.m. today after a second trip to Jersey City, this one on the iron piggy. I had been here about a day and a half after the first trip, turned right around and went back to mind little D1D1 after we found out the daycare center would be closed Friday and Monday, for Easter. I left Jersey City around 10 p.m. last night and was soon stuck in traffic on the Henry Hudson Parkway. Saw a flashing sign where everything came to a stop, “Night Construction, Monday to Friday, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.” Yessuh! It was pretty hot sitting the bike in a traffic jam, so I stopped and took off my jacket, vest and gloves. Sat like that for a while then ducked off the parkway at 96th Street, rode the local streets up to around 165th, cut back over to the parkway just south of the George Washington Bridge, grabbed the Cross Bronx Expressway at 178th and gave the piggy a good twist. I was still in shirtsleeves and barehanded, rode almost to Connecticut like that. I was fairly frozen by then. It got cold fast along the Sound. Back on with the vest, jacket and gloves. When I stopped for fuel later on I put on another shirt and my rain gear, but the cold was already in me. Probably helped to keep me awake all the way home, though. My eyes were feeling droopy. It was good riding once the traffic played out and the road opened up, easy to make 75mph. I didn’t see any deer until I was within a half mile of home; three does sprinting along Pontiac Avenue, spooked by the piggy motor.
Well I just “binged” on your last six Nickels…. Laughed out loud a couple of times. Congratulations to you and your lovely bride on the new addition, Miss D1D1. She is a beautiful addition…. That IS right !!!!
Tony you are the best.
Thanks, Doc. I’m back in Jersey City now. Rode the bike down this time. Time of day makes all the difference. Driving home at night on Tuesday took 3 1/2 hours, riding down here today during business hours took 6 1/2.
Pure joy, right? We loved the pics! Thanks for posting them! A little over a week until we get some hugging time with her. Can’t wait!
Thanks, Jean.
Maybe you’ve heard, but it turns out I left about 12 hours too early, should have waited until the little girl actually arrived at daycare today. That was when Emily and Ryan found out the center is closed for four days this weekend; parents are on their own the Friday before Easter and the Monday after. I never saw that one coming!
I’m trying to resist the urge to get on the motorcycle and ride back down there in the morning so Ryan doesn’t have to burn two days off from work.
Nice, just nice!
Look at those eyes! Your grand-daughter is very (as we say here in México) “vivaracha” (Google translator says is “sparky” but I bet there is a better translation for it!).
My fiancee loves New York, so I’ll show her your photos from that city….someday we’ll be there. She, to take one of those “Sex and the City” night tours…. I, well….I don’t know yet.
And….is good to see the snow is gone by now! Enjoy the Easter with your family! Blessings to you, your family and friends 😀
Vivaracha! I like it!
A Happy Easter to you & yours, amigo.
What a difference a day makes – I mean a life. Seeing D1D1 and you puts a smile on my face. My middle daughter and her husband just informed me that they are going to start their family soon. I’ve never asked about it, all in due time. But honestly I can’t wait! Good stuff Tone.
Thanks, John. We did the same here; never said, Hey, where’s our grandkids? just hoped it would one day happen. As you say, All in due time!
Thanks, all. Made it home for half past midnight, anyway.
Get your ass down to Tybee. Bring that baby.
Luverly, as always.
Jon Brush
Dammit, just got something in my eye. Totally blaming you Tony.
Thanks for sharing. You have a nice family!