Long Winter

It's quite early Saturday morning. The television is playing the news. The weather man just announced "Just when you thought January was putting on a good show for winter, it's going to kick it up a notch." or something like that. More cold weather this weekend. More snow. I miss the mild winters we've been having.

Yesterday, for work, I did some errands that required me to walk, a lot. I was told to take a taxi but there were no taxis to be had. I didn't mind running the errands because they were quite necessary. One of our clients needed something and the best solution was a personal delivery. I walked from 26th and Madison, across town to 27th Street and 7th Avenue. The printer/mailhouse was incredible. Boxes and boxes and boxes of mailings to be mailed were everywhere. The smell of ink dominated. I packed up the envelopes and inserts our client needed. Then I headed back out. This time up to 38th between Broadway and Fifth. Normally, not a bad walk but the cold made it unbearable.

I walked up sixth avenue or Avenue of the Americas with an eye out for a taxi. There are two things you should know about New York. Most cabs choose to go up town on sixth and you can never get a cab on sixth avenue. So, I ended up walking the half mile or so to my next destination. When I got there, I was more than happy to wait inside to deliver my package. But then it was time to go out again. This time to 32nd and Park Avenue. I thought walking down 36th would present an opportunity to catch a cab but there were none available. By the time I got to 36th and Fifth I resolved that I would just walk the rest of the way and I'm glad I did.

Between Madison and Park on 36th Street, there is a beautiful building that looks like a miniature version of the New York Public Library. It looked closed, unused and in front were two lionesses, on either side of the main stairs enclosed in glass. If it were warmer I would have gone over and investigate because I'm not familiar with the building. It is most likely part of the building complex for the Morgan Pierpont Library, most likely the original building, because the address matches the website I found in my internet search.

Once I hit Park Avenue I knew I was home free, I walked to my next destination, the bank and made the deposit. When I was finished, I called my boss who told me that pizza had been ordered for lunch and can I pick it up. So, it was one more trip in the cold. I headed over to 31st and Madison and waited in the very nice smelling and warm restaurant for our pizza. Walking it back to the office was tricky but it didn't slide and the pizza was perfect.

Finanlly back at the office, we all ate the pizza at our meeting.

It was all worth it. The client was happy and I slept really well last night.