At Home in the City

My brain is ruminating...and so I must ramble a bit...

...

I have always enjoyed exploring the world.

I grew up moving around to different towns in different states, so my family spent a lot of time getting to know new places.

Because of that, being a tourist is easy in one of my favorite cities.

There are the usual places to see -- the Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, the Subway, the World Trade Center.

But my favorite way to see and feel and know the city is to find a coffee shop early in the morning, sit at a table in the window, and watch the world go by. It may seem a strange way to "sightsee," and yet it gives me a chance to see the heart of the city, what makes it truly beat: a mom walking her children to school; a businessman scurrying by, coffee in one hand, a briefcase in the other; teenage girls engrossed in their music and texts, laughing together as they walk to their classes; an older couple stumbling along hand-in-hand; a gaggle of schoolchildren scattering behind two harried teachers on their way to a museum; and more.

And if I sit long enough, I'll see the process repeated in reverse, each person on his or her way home, thinking about the happenings and memories of the day, each a protagonist in his or her own story.

Oceanward Bound

"We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo... How about you, you, you? You can come, too, too, too... We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo."

Okay. We aren't going to the zoo.

We're heading to the beach instead. Our first time in two years -- since last year we had to bypass it due to having a new smallish family member coming to live with us.

We're going to Nags Head, N.C., the beach I've been visiting since I was nearly 3 (and we won't pause to calculate how long ago that was, thank you very much).

So 9 hours or so from earlier (or later?!?) this morning...some 375-ish miles later...and we'll be listening to the ocean and smelling the sea-scented breezes.

Mmm...Nags Head, here we come!

From Brasil with Love

My hubby has been in Brasil since a week ago Sunday... He's there with his company, doing a site survey of the emergency intercom/P.A. systems on some off-shore oil rigs.

Communication between us has been sporadic at best, due to his flying out to the rigs for several days at a time. No cellphones allowed. *sniff.*

So imagine my surprise when he IMed me on Friday and then again on Sunday!

Last night, he sent me two photos. A (sweet) sight for my sore (missing him) eyes!

View from his on-shore hotel room in Macae, Brasil

On site, my hubby (left) with Nicolau, the sales rep. in Brasil