Peace in the midst of chaos: Yoga in Times Square

What could be better than welcoming the summer solstice with yoga?  In Times Square?
Yes, it sounded crazy to me too.  I signed up as soon as the posters hit the streets:

New York has given me so many vivid moments, the sort that remind one to be grateful for life, and today's experience was yet another joyful one.  Thousands of yogis joined one or more of the three yoga classes held today, right in the middle of Times Square.  The city cleared several large spaces within the entire stretch of road, and we rolled our mats out in the street.  I will never see Times Square in the same way again.  It was difficult at first-- the roar of traffic, the advertising assault on one's eyes, the general chaos and tourists leaning over the barricades to watch and take photos.  Gradually, I was able to breathe, and get into the flow.

There were people of all ages and abilities.  Some were clearly better than others:

If you have ever wondered what Times Square would look like from the savasana (corpse) pose, here you go:

The end, and sheer bliss....

Scenes From An Ordinary Weekend

I spent much of this weekend walking to meet friends and run errands.  I was heartened to see small vibrant gatherings in various corners of the city.  A sample of the scenes I stumbled upon:

Upper East Side street fair :

A couple streets over, a Hungarian church fair:

 On the veranda of the New York Public Library, a ceremony and protest by the Burmese community :

All celebrating human life in their own way, and wonderful to witness.

A most beautiful 40th birthday gift

I received a most beautiful and heartfelt gift from my sister B and her family today.  I turned 40 in May, and B let me know that they had ordered something very special that would take a few months to arrive.

I found out what it was a couple days ago, and was finally able to go and see it today.

My very own chair in Bryant Park!

The plaque's message is beautiful, though a bit too detailed to share on a public site.

I wrote about my love affair with Bryant Park in March: Love & Life at Bryant Park.  B let me know for the first time today that she and her boyfriend (now husband) used to meet at Bryant Park when he come in to NYC to visit her.  So now it is an intensely personal place for both us.

I have received many wonderful presents in my life, and this is absolutely at the top.  New York has become part of me, and now I have become part of New York.

From Senegal to Puerto Rico

I wasn't expecting a cross-cultural experience when I left my apartment this morning to join three friends for lunch.  Silly me, I should just go ahead and expect these things. 

We met in Harlem for a simple lunch.  One of my friends lives in the heart of a neighorhood that is heavily Senegalese.  I love visiting her there-- it reminds me of my time in west Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  It was great to catch up with everyone, and afterwords I decided to walk back to the subway via 116th Avenue, which cuts right through the heart of Africa in New York.  I love seeing the women in their gorgeous African dresses, more colorful and lively than anything that's ever come out of Fashion Week in Bryant Park.  Also familiar were the men sitting outside of their stores, chatting.  The signs and posters are mostly in French, and the orderly contents of the stores are also reminiscent of what I remember in Africa.

There were some cool murals too:

As I continued to walk east, I could tell by the signage and the music coming out of the stores that I had left Little Senegal and entered Spanish Harlem.  Puerto Rican colors and flags and trinkets were everywhere.  Today is the National Puerto Rican Day Parade.  I decided to go closer to the action-- the parade was scheduled to go up 5th Avenue, from 42nd to the mid-70s.  I hopped on the subway again.  Soon I had made my way to the parade site.  I couldn't get close to it, but it was lively enough on the surrounding streets.

It was refreshing to see the vibrancy of the crowds in the most staid and placid area of NYC-- Park Avenue & 5th Avenue on the Upper East Side.  I'm not sure what the society matrons made of the many women with colorful and oh-so-tiny outfits, enthusiastic men covered with tattoos and baseball caps, people of all ages decked in red, white and blue, and loud Puerto Rican music, but here's hoping they smiled and perhaps even tapped their foot to the beat.

Surprised By Joy

If you had asked me ten years ago- or even five- how I would greet the prospect of turning forty, the words "with great joy" would not have been uttered during our conversation. 

And so it was with surprise that I turned forty this month with glee, not glumness, with delight, not doldrums, with joy, not sorrow.  Now that I am here, I am astonished by the traditional black balloons and 'over the hill' merchandise.  Are there people who really feel that way?  That has no place in my life, and those sentiments were not at all present this weekend.  Instead, my feelings were beautifully summed up in one of the cards I received:

Today a new sun rises for me;

everything lives, everything is animated,

everything seems to speak to me of my passion,

everything invites me to cherish it."

- Anne De Lenclos

(Oh my... I just looked up the author on Wiki, and now love this quote even more: Ninon De L'Enclos)

Ah, the weekend.  This weekend was full of friends, celebration, fun and laughter. Three dear friends traveled long distances to help me celebrate this milestone.   T flew in from Minnesota.  W hopped on a bus in Vermont.  And K traveled in from DC.  The group expanded on Saturday night, when my NYC girlfriends joined us for a delicious and lively birthday dinner.

New York is a wonderful place to be a hostess.  Walk outside your door, and the possibilities are endless.  For Saturday brunch, our small group found our way to Teany, an airy & light-filled tea shop and vegetarian cafe owned by the musician Moby.  Half the fun was getting there, and walking a bit on the Lower East Side.  The store signs are in a jumble of languages, with intriguing restaurants and shops every few steps.  Definitely a place I need to spend more time exploring.

The Marina Abramovic exhibition I had seen a couple weeks ago was still on my mind, and I thought that my friends would appreciate its intensity and sheer rawness.  They did.  And thanks to an amazing benefit of MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) membership ($75/individual, which I had already purchased-- with up to five $5 guest passes each visit), it was an affordable spectacle.

The weather was perfect, and after time in a museum- and after seeing the intense Abramovic show- time outside was a must.  We walked down to Bryant Park Grill, an outdoor cafe that looks out on the park.  Perfect weather, perfect company. And a perfect waitress.  Once she realized that I was celebrating my 40th, she continually brought over any 'extra' drinks that had been mistakenly poured.  So we had a bit more than originally planned-!  The fun starting gaining additional momentum when my friend M finished her volunteer work in Harlem and joined us, bearing artful and exquisite cupcakes, as evidenced above.

More NYC-based girlfriends joined us for dinner at Chola, a wonderful Indian restaurant on East 58th Street.  Delicious food, attentive service, cozy atmosphere.  It made me so happy to have all of these strong, spirited, fearless friends gather around me and cheer as I walked into my fourth decade.  Women from several different stages of my life, many of whom arrived as strangers to each other and departed friends.

I am so blessed.  My path has not always been an easy one, and my current situation is certainly not perfect.  The hardships of life- serious medical diagnoses, relationship woes, infertility, job loss, death--have recently visited those that I care about deeply.  I continue to be greatly challenged by my work and the energy it requires of me.  I am happy, though, and have no wish to be anywhere other than where I am right now, or to be anyone other than who I am today. 

St Patrick's Day in NYC

I've never been in a city that embraces St. Patrick's Day in quite the way New York does.  I work in Midtown, and roughly half of the people on the street were sporting green. Business men with green ties, business women wearing classy green linen jackets or sweaters, little girls with green barrettes clipped in their hair. Even the buildings participated, many of them hoisting Irish flags (witness the Waldorf-Astoria, above). And then there were the revelers.  Young students wearing garish green outfits, many of them so drunk they were stumbling in step and in word.  It did not inspire confidence in the future leadership of America. 

I took an early lunch break and my camera and headed into the crowds, trying to catch a glimpse of the parade.  I can report that my first St Pat's Day in NYC consisted of parade-hearing, not parade-watching.  I was simply too late to get a decent spot, and the wall of bodies was far too deep to hope for any chance of seeing the parade.  This is about as close as I got:

I know, disappointing, eh?  It wasn't a total loss, though.  The bagpipes were loud and clear and heart-stopping, in the very best kind of way. I love bagpipes.  I even ran into some guys practicing on a side street, right before the parade started:

I resolved to take the day off next year, so I can reserve a spot right in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral and experience the holiday properly.

To top off the day, I had a delicious dinner with N at Sanfords, a wonderful restaurant in Queens.  On the menu: corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes.  It's been years since I've had this meal, and it felt like a proper end to my first St. Patrick's Day in New York.  My Irish grandmother would have been delighted.