The Short Version:
- New York is fun.
- And beautiful.
- And a bit wacky.
The Longer (Illustrated) Version:
I am in New York City visiting my cousin Stacy and my other cousin (and his wife), Ginger. Being here in their beautiful 3-bedroom apartment on the Episcopal compound (don’t know the official name since I’m not exactly fluent in Episcopal) is like being in the magical world of Hogwart’s . . .
Yesterday I spent some time roaming the Cathedral of St. John the Divine where I saw some pretty magnificent things . . . like stained glass:
and likenesses carved into pews:
and floors that sure look like quilts to me (quilts that were much more captivating when I stood right there on them than when I climbed up high and tried to get a picture of the “quilt” in its entirety):
On the way back to their apartment, I looked at the cracks in the sidewalks and saw churches and steeples, some caught in the act of being struck by lightning:
Fortunately the lightning only took half the steeple each time:
Sometimes lightning only sheered off the point at the top:
I saw a high rise church built on a mountain (or half a high rise church built on half a mountain for those of you who are more factually inclined:
And best I can tell, this is 5.25 of the Ten Commandments, undoubtedly put on legs to save them from The Flood:
Oh, and we rode the subway last night (a first for me on my fourth visit to The Big Apple) to Little Italy for supper, and I want you to know: I hadn’t been on the train a nanosecond when a fella in a red jacket hopped up and offered me his seat. He’s in construction, and I’m a little offended that he didn’t whistle at me as he offered me his seat. I broke all the rules, though, and not only made eye contact with him, but enjoyed talking to him. (Something that would’ve been much easier had he come with subtitles.)
I love your travelogues. Is this the church near where the Twin Towers used to be? Maybe that was Trinity. Have you been inside the National Cathedral? One thing you can say for us episcopals is we know how to build churches!
i think you’re thinking about st. paul’s – at least that’s the one i know that’s near the twin towers, though this one isn’t far away. and you’re so right: the big E’s really know how to build impressive churches. that’s for sure.
You’ve come a LONG way from the shy girl who averted her eyes at Willy’s, less she see the bad boys in the back. See what blessings come with leaning forward into life! Actually, that rule about talking to strangers on subways and making eye contact is pragmatic for people traveling alone, especially women. But, you were in company…one might say you had a “gang”. Geanne the gangbanger! Saint Geanne! Throw it down dog..
throw it down dog . . . you crack me up tom, my favorite renaissance man.
I haven’t been to New York City in years and years – so I live vicariously! Love the old cathedral, I can see why it all has that Hogwarts feel.
and i don’t even have to hurl myself in and through a brick wall to get here. x