I slipped back into my city as if returning from vacation instead of dropping in for a weekend visit. The weather is slightly different seven months later but it feels more like only seven days since I left. Conversations break the spell as lots of “what are you doing here?!”s were not part of my daily NYC life.
My favorite Maintenance Man from my old office building and my bagel guy both remembered my name (and I theirs) with a warm smile. The latter, (corner of 6th and 45th) reached expertly for my cinnamon raisin without missing a beat. A brief catch up on family and workout routine, turning to weather and baseball… our chat wandered the usual paths of acquaintance and ended with a “see you soon.”
I walked away pondering the nature of “soon,” relieved to know my ideas of being able to drop back into this, my city home, were not complete delusions. My list of Must-Eats over the next 72 hours my marker that I don’t currently reside here… But boyhowdy do I live here.
In addition to those meals, I aimed to cross things off my internal “I never did…” list.
