Anatomy of a Flower

Time:

2:10 pm.

We got back from the Easter-long-weekend vacation last night. It was a long day - we had parked the car in New Haven, Connecticut and taken the train to New York City, so the two-hour train ride to the car was a bit of a back-track to home, but in the end, worth it. We saved money not parking in New York, and also sanity not driving there.

So we made it to Vermont on Thursday, first of all. I drove part of the way and the weather wouldn't decide whether it wanted to snow or rain, so it bounced between the two and sometimes combined them. The freeways stayed wet, but not icy, so it wasn't too bad. We pulled into Warren just before supper, and ended up just sitting around for the evening. I started Divisadero by Ondaatje.

Oh Ondaatje... I've been waiting for this next book for years. Then it finally came out, and I tried to wait for the paperback but I could not, and now I am reading it. It's wonderful. He's one of my top five faves. Speaking of top five faves, I think I'll share that right now, as a brief aside:

In no specific order:
1) Margaret Atwood
2) Ernest Hemingway
3) Michael Ondaatje
4) Leo Tolstoy
5) Thomas Hardy

There are too many others, as well, but these always stick out in my mind.

Anyway, Friday we meant to ski, but I had forgotten my skipants (in SK, I believe), and from there all thoughts of skiing fell apart. It was also ungodly windy, so we spent the day reading at the B&B, and then on an "eating tour" of central Vermont after coaxing T out of the room. We went to the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory, where I had pumpkin cheesecake ice cream. It was divine. We also had cheese, chocolate, and apple cider donuts. Delicious.

Saturday we made our way to New York. Upon recommendation from others at the B&B, we parked the car at the train station in New Haven and rode into NYC. It was a good decision; we stand by it. That evening, we ate supper near Times Square and then wandered around.

Sunday we went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle for Easter Sunday church. It was absolutely amazing. We sat on the balconey, and it shook while we sang because everyone was clapping and (I think) people were dancing. The choir was unbelievable. Church was two hours long but it was over so quickly. We loved it there, and we decided every time we're in New York on a Sunday, we're going there for church.

In the afternoon, we shopped. I found things at Banana Republic and Anthropologie. Then we rushed to make our 3:00pm show - Curtains. It was excellent. The star was David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane of Frasier). He was fantastic, as were the rest of the cast. I still have a few of the songs rolling through my head this morning.

That night, we had supper near the hotel and then walked through Battery Park. We meant to go to the Bluenote jazz club, but we ran late from supper and didn't make it before our reservations were lost. Next time.

Now I am at work, where it is very very boring, and I've only received two calls all day. One was a wrong number, and the other one was the wrong office. So yah.

Currently, I'm fighting this lingering sore throat which seems to be leftover from a cold three weeks ago. I'm scared I have strep throat; I will investigate further this evening, I think.

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