Tom and I spent the weekend in New York. Tom hadn’t seen his sister Adi and brother-in-law Jeremy in several months so we thought it would be nice to go out to see them. Plus it coupled as Tom’s early birthday present. (Tom’s birthday is the 15th.)

We had a great time and saw some new parts of New York. Here are a few pictures:

This ship, the Peking, actually fought in WWII. It’s a huge four mast ship.

There wasn’t much history stated for Ms. Helen, but I was intrigued by this mass of robe that looks like a gigantic mop. There were about six boats all lined up at Pier 17, they stood there nobly but were completely unkept and seeminly unnoticed by much of the crowd. The Peking offered tours, but no one took one. I find such “sites” fascinating. Why that lack of interest? Probably simply becaues this little boat museum has run out of money and has cut all advertizing. Yet in their dilapidated state they had such charm, and showed such a “real” view of shipping.

Next to the ship was this little Shipping museum restoration shop. In this tiny little room this little old man sits amongs a clutter of antique projects and slowly restores them one by one. Many of his projects are figure heads, but as you can see in these few pictures, he seems to take on any request that include wood and the sea. (From a photographic point of view, I really like the first of these two similar photos. I prefer the composition of the first but I wish the focus was on the bird and not on the block of wood. However, the more I looked at it the more I thought it offered an interesting commentary- that block of wood becoming one of the creatures behind it.)

Jeremy who taken up trading stocks recently wanted to see Wall street and the stock exchange, and as it was close we walked on over. It was strange to think that that one street as been the result of so much news and crisis in our country (in combination with many other things, I realize.) There is one section of the street where recent efforts have sought to add a little more greenery. Plots of layered beech trees, and flower gardens made a beautiful park area on the south end of wall street- but all greenery ended there. It made me realize what a difference just adding a few more large flower pots, window boxes, and trees would have on NYC. We saw a lot of foreign tourists yesterday and it made me wonder what they perception of America must be if it mostly includes only seeing New York City. I enjoy a day in the city, but NYC is far from the America that I know and love. It made me wonder if France was best seen through Paris, or Italy through Rome. How does one truly come to “know” a country- live there, I guess.
Regardless, it made me feel that giving more attention to those tourist attracting cities is well spent. I want people to come to America and see if even a small side of the America that I know- that of fields, flower gardens, and wonderfully nice calm people.

Which brings up something else I always feel in New York- a real desire to smile and be  very nice. As Adi but it, “My friends who live in New York, they say they just come to hate people.” You get a sense of that while you’re there, people just get agitated easily. Tom mentioned that, “Everytime I come to New York I seem to make at least three people really mad.” It’s always over little things, elbowing someone when you reach out to grab your backpack, opening a can of Orzo he had just bought while we sat in a tea shop and having the lady ask, “What do you think you’re doing?” those sorts of silly things. So why do we, and many others, continue to be fascinated by the city- because it is just such a melting pot. You really see all kinds there- from obvious models to moms living in the city with their three kids. You see punk rockers and you see business men, and occasionlly you see famous people. We’re pretty sure we saw Claudia Schiffer. Which is only interesting to me because I certainly wouldn’t recognize her, I hadn’t a clue who she was until Jeremy said, I think that was Claudia Schiffer. I had seen her walk down some stairs with a guy and just looked her in the face and the thought went through my mind, wow she looks famous. Funny, who knew someone could just “look” famous.

This photo says it all. Across from the stock exchange is the Federal Hall, it doesn’t particularly stand out except for the statue of George Washington on the stairs, and this gorgeous bronze frieze of the President praying.

This really struck me. What a beautiful remembrance of the beginnings of our country. This country was founded by God-fearing men. I believe they were inspired of God and were called to do the work they did. It’s sad to me to see how far our country has departed from that spiritual heritage. How neat to have this simple reminder of the source of this man’s excellence.

We ended the day by watching “Mary Poppins” on Broadway. We were all a little worried that it might not be that great of a show. But I had read great reviews and gained an appreciation for the movie later in life. (I hadn’t liked it as a kid.) It turned out to be a blast. The music was fun, the dancing spectacular and the set and costuming bright and happy. The whole production was just so joyful. By the end we were all smiling broadly and clapping along with the tap numbers. I felt the production was very timely. It tells of a father who is suspended from his job at a bank and comes to terms with the fact that he is not happy with his workaholic lifestyle. He, with the help of his wife and children (as a result of Mary Poppin’s influence on them) stands up the bank and tells them from now on family will be first. There was a great emphasis on finding joy in life.

It was a classic Broadway production with lots of energy and charm. I loved it.