Ah.. New York... it is still the best of times. But to my feet it's turning out to be the worst of times. I overdid it yesterday when I walked around the city from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. Am I really counting 9 hours? I sat down for lunch so let's take out an hour from that. So that's 8 hours on my feet. Now one of my feet is really swollen on top I don't know why. And it hurts, but it was so worth it.
There is a huge difference between visiting a place and living there for a while. I get to take my time, and because we have a kitchen, I get to cook. In the morning I go to Union Square, home of a summery farmers market, a shady little park, beets of every color, groseilles (what's the word in English?)boysenberries, and onions freshly pulled out of the ground. Then there is the Chelsea market down the street where I discovered I could get my already pudgy little hands hand on foie gras. Frozen foie gras but foie gras nontheless. Schwartzenegger has made it illegal to buy or sell foie gras in LA, what a killjoy that one. Our Governator thinks nothing of mass killing cyborgs, but injure just one little goose and he has a hissy fit. All this to say that when it comes to food, Manhattan is a cornucopia.
Friday I had a New york moment in Union Park at 6:30 in the evening. The air was heavy, HOT and moist with a threatening thunderstorm. There was a gazillion people in the streets; wall to wall bodies from the youngest and hippest to the most bedraggled and desperate-looking. Why were they there, I don't know. Maybe there was a free concert? Maybe this was the place to be? Maybe this is a normal Friday night Union Square sight, but it had to be one of the most cosmopolite gathering of humans on this Earth. There wasn't an ethnic group, class, age, or sexual orientation I could point out as dominant.
In New York, everyone looks so incredibly interesting to me. In L.A.I hardly see anyone beside those I already know. I think this is why I can't write or blog here. The spectacle, the show of life, the learning, the experiencing, the variety, the humanity is all in the streets.
I realize I am a contemplative person. It's not like i'm 'doing' or 'producing' anything here either. All this walking In New York is not unlike my blog surfing at home, only instead of my fingers doing the hunting, here I let my feet carry me from one sight to another. (Speaking of not producing, notice this is a post about food and people and I manage to illustrate it with images of gardens and buildings. Hmmm...)
Maybe I would get used to it after a while. Maybe all this pulsating life gets old at some point. But for now I wonder how I could go back to my sedentary life in LA. This being said, my feet are telling me that I have been sedentary too long and that there might be no turning back. My heart and stomach might want to stay in New York forever, but my feet can't wait to take the first plane to L.A.
New York is absolutely great! I go there three times a year to exhibit and each time end up like you with swollen feet... and buying band-aids for blisters. Enjoy your stay!
Posted by: anabel fournier | July 18, 2009 at 08:41 AM
i can honestly say after living there for 5 years (a gazillion years ago) NYC never got tired. All the humanity, all the smells, all the sights were still eye popping each and every day. I get back as often as possible because it's there, on those streets that i feel most like myself!
Enjoy it - blisters and all!
Christine
Posted by: Christine | July 18, 2009 at 01:00 PM
You write beautifully. I feel as if I am walking with you. Thank you for the tour.
Posted by: Orghlaith | July 18, 2009 at 01:54 PM
Dude. You are KILLING me here. You're living my dream life. I can't stand it. Wonder how long it will take me to convince dh we need to move to NY.
Posted by: muralimanohar | July 18, 2009 at 02:02 PM
Oh, it sounds like such a wonderful place to spend some time. Enjoy!
Posted by: Dorte | July 19, 2009 at 04:37 AM
Corine,
1) Groseille - currants (sometimes, to others, 'gooseberry' - bought some myself yesterday at farmer's market).
2) never having had a car & living urban life, swollen feet I know about. That's all that's wrong. Even I had a swollen ankle last week...walked more than usual (which is saying something)
3) glad you're loving it--no, I don't think one every gets "used" to it, takes it for granted (NYC)although I do know some who do so what am I saying? I miss great exhibits here (DC) sometimes because I forget or think, oh I'll get there.
4) might be in NYC Wednesday. If so, I'll msg you name of gallery in case you & anyone you pick up on your travels wants to stop by
5) keep on walkin'
xo
Posted by: Susan | July 19, 2009 at 07:34 AM
You are totally making me fall in love with the city that is not far from my upstate home.
I think because I'm always a tourist there - in town for only a day, or at most a couple of nights for business, and because I always stay in the Times Square area, I have only one view of the city.
Thank you for sharing yours. Thank you.
Posted by: AGirlNamedMe | July 19, 2009 at 08:21 AM
I Love NY and love to walk for hours and hours in any beautiful city. you are right it is like surfing only you have the touch and smell of the images.
You painted a beautiful image.
Posted by: Happytizinglife | July 19, 2009 at 09:18 AM
What a difference indeed! from never seeing humanity to having it right outside your door, it is sooooo exciting! Move!
Catherine
Posted by: Cat | July 19, 2009 at 10:47 AM
9 hours walking is definitely a lot!! Have a rest every 2 hours!
Posted by: French furniture | July 20, 2009 at 05:07 AM
My thought is that the feet will be better very soon and you will be back pounding those pavements in no time. There is nothing like the streets of NYC to put a spring in your step, xv.
Posted by: Vicki Archer | July 20, 2009 at 06:33 AM
We definitely don't walk in LA... you've captured FAB photos again!
Posted by: Fifi Flowers | July 20, 2009 at 09:51 AM
you're so funny! i think if you lived in NYC, you'd get used to all that walking.
Posted by: josephine | July 20, 2009 at 03:45 PM
Oh stay in New York, it seems your crush is on.
Do rest your foot though and wear birkenstocks or something. I like the tour. It works better without people pictures because you can imagine it, like a book.
Posted by: Clarity | July 20, 2009 at 06:39 PM
OH! but your feet give a gift to your eyes! oh how i would like to go to the market with you! oh and people watch with you!!
Posted by: nadia | July 21, 2009 at 09:55 AM
thats a lot of walking!!! but for me, its always worth it...isnt it???look at all that pictures, you're making me dream...
Posted by: shilvia | July 21, 2009 at 07:45 PM
Who would have thought that such diversity could play such havoc with your feet?
Posted by: Di Overton | July 22, 2009 at 01:02 AM
you're making me jealous.... ;-)
Posted by: Michael | July 22, 2009 at 09:13 AM
Glad you are having a great time. That street picture of the homes reminded me so much of the Cosby show home. But apparently that was on St. Luke in the West Village.
Hope your feet are better soon so you can continue your grand tour!
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa | July 23, 2009 at 07:44 AM
it's good to be here...i've been away myself...walking and driving for hours on end on the other side of the country (san Francisco). upon my return home my feet turned into polish sausages for three days albeit after the 10 hour drive home and 7 days of walking the streets like a desperate hooker. is that a disgusting image? the sausage part i mean not the hooker part ...... i think it is so i couldn't bring myself to blog about it. you now...your feet surely look delicately injured or femininely puffy, in need of a gentle massage :)
I made one visit to New York and i never walked so much in my life, feeling much like you describe here! i love your blog and you corine :)
Posted by: robin bird | July 28, 2009 at 08:23 AM
Corine,
Although I am deliriously happy that you are having this wonderful love affair with NY, please know that LA and your friends here miss you and we will never surrender you permanently to the city that never sleeps. Have a wonderful time. Drink it in. Soothe your feet but keep walking and experiencing. Loving the view from afar. Miss you.
Robin.
Posted by: Robin | July 28, 2009 at 09:10 PM
Corine you are flooding me with memories of my life living near Union Square nearly 20 years ago. You do write beautifully and I do think Gov Arnold has cooked his own goose by now. BTW, there should still be a Dean & Delucca nearby the farmers market that sells wonderful fois gras. And don't forget to go to The Strand bookstore on B'way and Kiehl's Drug on 3rd around 10th or 11th St...sigh. Back to my foggy island paradise in Maine...
Posted by: Katy | July 29, 2009 at 08:19 AM
PS: being a Pisces, I know from sore feet. Soak them at night in some epsom salts and then put some peppermint foot lotion on them to cool them off. Or go to my friend Mary's salon called "Nails by Mary" and get a pedicure and a parafin wax treatment on your tootsies. She is in the 80's on the east side off Lexington, if I remember correctly. You should be able to get her number in the phone book. Hey and be sure to get a "frozen hot chocolate" at Serendipity near Bloomie's (if it's still there).
Posted by: Katy | July 29, 2009 at 08:32 AM