Posts filed under Life in New York

In The Rearview Mirror 2019 pt. 4

Flashback Friday

October

    Our friends came and visited us in October, and we ventured out to a wide variety of museums and art galleries. Early October was actually a bit chilly and you could definitely tell that fall was on its way. But as always, temperatures fluctuated a lot this year too. We went through Central Parks many times in October and it’s always great to see the colors change as time passes. We also went to a light show by Columbia University. It was ok, not spectacular in any way though. Morningside Park has raccoons that we see from time to time, and in October we saw one again. One of the streets we take to work is always full of nice Halloween decorations, so it was always fun to stroll through that part and check out all the various decorations for this year.

November

    In November fall colors were still lingering in Central Park, and we still had warmish temperatures. It’s interesting how fall seems to hang on forever in New York, compared to other places we have lived. If you venture out in Central Park on some of the trails it almost feels as if you are in the middle of nowhere even though you are in one of the largest cities in the world. I made some cardamom buns and finally made them perfect! I also managed to make my first macaroons. We went to W’s grandma for Thanksgiving and hung out there for a couple of days. It’s always nice to be able to have those days to recuperate from the big city life.

December

    December came with a thin layer of snow, and that is about everything we got. I went to the ballet and saw the nutcracker and I made some saffron buns, absolutely delicious. W and I explored some old and new bars before we headed out to Montuckey for Christmas. We did a lot of hiking, per usual around Bozeman. Actually more than usual because of the thin layer of snow. We rented an Airbnb in Gardiner after Christmas and spent a couple of days in Yellowstone National Park. We checked out some bars in Gardiner and the next day we finally went skiing in northeast Yellowstone! On New Years Eve we went to bed already at 9.30 but we had big and early plans on January 1st.

It's the Small Things that Matter - Macro Photography

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Wednesday Thoughts

Earth Day

Earth day came and went while most of the US were under some sort of “shelter in place” order. I remember last year they closed off parts of Broadway and had a bunch of sustainable groups that gave out freebies, or had you sign up for various things. I think the same part of Broadway is closed today, but for very different reasons. It’s nice to have a day that celebrates the marvels of this earth, but I of course like to marvel about our earth every day.

Documenting the smaller things on earth

Ever since I moved from Alaska my camera has been getting less and less attention. By now it is a bit outdated and I have been thinking that I should get a new one for several years now, just like I have been thinking that I should get a tattoo. None of that has happened, yet. At one point I got really into macro photography, because there is no better way to see natures magical world than to drop down on your knees and get close to the tiniest parts of this ecosystem. I am the type of person that will do just that and don’t think about the consequences, i.e dirty knees, until afterwards. I can easily get sucked in to the details, maybe that is why I am a lab manager.

Now when I look through all my photos I want to get back, back into photography again, but the lack of the nature I want to depict is nowhere to be found in this urban place. There are details here too of course, just not so obvious, or maybe that is the whole point. You have to search for it and train your eye for a different environment. Either way, one can dream about the nature that used to surround me at least.

When all of this is over - A day in New York

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Hey, tonight if you think about it
Remembering all the times that you pointed out
Say, the glass is clear but all this fear
Starts a-leaving a mark
Your idle hands are all that stands
From your time in the dark
But it’s still alright
— Nathaniel Rateliff

Wednesday Thoughts on a Thursday

May 7 2020

We are standing by the window that faces the street. The same street that used to have a lot of traffic back in the day, and cars that were constantly honking because it was going to slow. About as slow as we think it’s going inside now. There aren’t that many cars, or buses, that drive by now and even the sirens have stopped. Every now and then I lean my head too much towards the window and my forehead leave marks on the window, that window we cleaned not too long ago. Maybe that is why I constantly bump into it, it’s so clean that I can’t even see it’s there, or is it because I am so curious about what is going on further down the street? It’s Happy Hour and this is where we end up for that now, becuase there isn’t that much else to do. It’s even a sentence we found ourselves saying more than once, Do you want to come and stand by the window with me and see what’s going on out there? This is where we talk about the day that passed, what we accomplished, or didn’t accomplish, and what we read or listened to news wise. But even the news is something we turn off or scroll past if it sounds or looks too heavy. Because who wants to listen to how this America is breaking down right in front of you.

The days go by, very slowly but still fast. It’s already May and we spent all of April in here, or not all but that is what it feels like. We live in an area that some people would describe as “a little rough around the edges” and the atmosphere feels different out there now. I feel the same way I did when we just moved here. I don’t really have anything to complain about, being inside, because I have a job that is willing to pay me working from home. It’s probably not the same for a large number of people around here. If you thought people were struggling before this, just imagine what they do now.

The other day I spent more than a hour searching for face masks. Not the one that contains cucumber and not the N95 either. Those masks are reserved for the people on the front line, and rightfully so. If you went on Amazon back in March all PPE including hand sanitizer and bleach were reserved for the front line. We had everything we needed back then, but now we need these face masks, the light version. The type of face mask that is sewn by workers who used to make bags or clothes or everything in between. It’s not meant to protect me from the virus, but it’s probably better than nothing as long as it doesn’t get wet. It’s meant to protect others from me if I would ever carry the virus without being sick. Just think about that, we now live in a world where I can say I spend an hour ordering face masks.

It’s Thursday, and on Thursdays people on the other side of the Atlantic (read Sweden) eat yellow pea soup, and so do we. With pancake. I’ve been thinking a lot about Swedes and Sweden lately. We went there last summer, the first summer in almost ten years and maybe that is why. I don’t really want to live in Sweden because this is where my home is now. But it’s the Swedish songs and artists that are constantly echoing in my head nowadays.