Enough of the swan song blogs about our poetic story book move across the country. I'm not as Polly Anna'ish as all that. Let's be honest about what it's like to move to New York at the begining of the summer. This summer in particular. June was the wettest month on record for New York. It rained every day except five. Fine by me. What did I care, I was leaving for my annual vacation to Lake Chelan, WA on July 15 for a week and then to spend another week in Seattle where they were experiencing the dryest summer on record. As it turned out also the hottest. On July 28 it reached a record breaking 104 in Seattle and I was there in all of its un-airconditioned glory to experience it. What was I thinking?
Back in New York they finally hit their stride with summer. 90+ degrees with almost equal amounts of humidity. At least everything (except the subway tunnels) is air conditioned here. But besides hide out in their apartments what do people do to cool off here? Though we're on an island you can't go swimming in any of the surrounding water for fear of growing a third eyeball. And only small children look cute running through the spray fountains in the parks, not 40+ year old women who are crazed with heat.
So to proove to you that I'm not completely stupid with glee in my newly adopted home of Manhattan I give you the top 8 things I could really live without. I only came up with 8 because there are so many things I love here that I just couldn't make it to 10.
1. The F'ed up way my hair looks every day thanks to the humidity
2. Humidity; duh! Sometimes it is as high as the temperature.
3. No A/C in the Subway stations; Our NPR station here, WNYC, did a story on how unbearablely hot it gets by taking a thermometer down there. One station reached 106 degrees.
4. Being surrounded by water you can't swim in. Even the NYPD take lethal amounts of antibiotics before they suit up in airtight suits when they have to get in the Hudson.
5. Radio stations here suck! Really, for a city that has so much live music and culture it is amazing how many people listen to radio stations from other cities. In partiular our favorite from Seattle KEXP. Thank god for real time live streaming over the internet, and that it airs on a local station a few hours a day.
6. Critters; its just a way of life here and I'm getting better about it. As a matter of fact I can now trick myself into thinking that rats are just squirrels with a shaved tail. But then that leaves the issue with squirrels. They are rats with fluffy tails. So I guess I'm freaked out either way.
7. Apples; for being known as the Big Apple their apple selection leaves something to be desired. I know this sounds petty but lets be honest - I am coming from The Apple State where varieties like the Honey Crisp could make your whole day just by letting the juice run down you chin as you bite into it.
8. Brunch; this is going to end up being a blog post all it's own eventually. I don't 'do' brunch. As my friend Dawn likes to remind me, I once said "Don't make me wait in line for a f*&%ing egg!". Brunch in NYC is big. There's an entire culture around it that involves people willingly waiting in line for an hour or more just to eat breakfast. Places like Prune boast a 2 hour wait. Guess who'll you won't see in line there....I'm at David's Bagels getting a pumpernickel with tofu chive cream cheese and nova lox in 4 minutes.
Back in New York they finally hit their stride with summer. 90+ degrees with almost equal amounts of humidity. At least everything (except the subway tunnels) is air conditioned here. But besides hide out in their apartments what do people do to cool off here? Though we're on an island you can't go swimming in any of the surrounding water for fear of growing a third eyeball. And only small children look cute running through the spray fountains in the parks, not 40+ year old women who are crazed with heat.
So to proove to you that I'm not completely stupid with glee in my newly adopted home of Manhattan I give you the top 8 things I could really live without. I only came up with 8 because there are so many things I love here that I just couldn't make it to 10.
1. The F'ed up way my hair looks every day thanks to the humidity
2. Humidity; duh! Sometimes it is as high as the temperature.
3. No A/C in the Subway stations; Our NPR station here, WNYC, did a story on how unbearablely hot it gets by taking a thermometer down there. One station reached 106 degrees.
4. Being surrounded by water you can't swim in. Even the NYPD take lethal amounts of antibiotics before they suit up in airtight suits when they have to get in the Hudson.
5. Radio stations here suck! Really, for a city that has so much live music and culture it is amazing how many people listen to radio stations from other cities. In partiular our favorite from Seattle KEXP. Thank god for real time live streaming over the internet, and that it airs on a local station a few hours a day.
6. Critters; its just a way of life here and I'm getting better about it. As a matter of fact I can now trick myself into thinking that rats are just squirrels with a shaved tail. But then that leaves the issue with squirrels. They are rats with fluffy tails. So I guess I'm freaked out either way.
7. Apples; for being known as the Big Apple their apple selection leaves something to be desired. I know this sounds petty but lets be honest - I am coming from The Apple State where varieties like the Honey Crisp could make your whole day just by letting the juice run down you chin as you bite into it.
8. Brunch; this is going to end up being a blog post all it's own eventually. I don't 'do' brunch. As my friend Dawn likes to remind me, I once said "Don't make me wait in line for a f*&%ing egg!". Brunch in NYC is big. There's an entire culture around it that involves people willingly waiting in line for an hour or more just to eat breakfast. Places like Prune boast a 2 hour wait. Guess who'll you won't see in line there....I'm at David's Bagels getting a pumpernickel with tofu chive cream cheese and nova lox in 4 minutes.
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