Sunday, May 23, 2010

Journal: May 23rd. A day in Brooklyn

Slept spendidly at Sarah's. No plans to return to Newton. This Sunday will be an urban day of rest.

Began the day walking to yoga in Park Slope. My plans were pretty minimal--yoga, a quick shop at Trader Joe's--and dinner with Alexandra and Jon and children.

But, minimal days are not yet on the agenda. Walking to Trader Joe's, seeing packs of pamphlet touting walkers, I discovered that there was a house tour in Boerum Hill, Sarah's neighborhood, including several houses on her very block. As I was about to embark on a major house project, it seemed more than appropriate to check out my house's Brooklyn counterparts.

But first I had to do my TJ run. I was planing to go to stock my own larder and the depletions I'd made or would make at Sarah's and had also told Jon and Alexandra I'd pick op an appetizer for dinner while I there, but what do I -- a resident of Venice, California, know of the rituals know of trials and tribulations of shopping with the Trader in Brooklyn.

Very little indeed. I hesitate to mention that distracted by my detour to find the starting point of the house tour, I turned myself around, and forgetting about the potential usefulness of my droid google navigator, I probably walked fifteen minutes in the wrong direction before aligning myself properly with the TJ stars.

And once there....well it's not a place to dash in to pick up a couple of items. Although there are about thirty cashiers working check-out, the lines snaked round and round the store. For my minimal purchases, I lingered on line for more than an hour. I did have a fine conversation with the woman in front of me--but still....

By the time I made my purchases, unloaded them at Sarah's and returned to the ticket center for the house tour, they weren't even officially selling tickets. But the kind member of the Boerum Hill Association with whom I'd chatted earlier suggested I pay less for my ticket--maybe $15 as opposed to $25--and race about to see as many of the houses as possible before the 5:30 closing time.

Needless to say, the renovations of the brownstones of Boerum Hill had little in common with my upcoming project--but but i did meet a sustainability architectural consultant--which did get me new jersey thinking once again.

Then walked directly to Jon and Alexandra's--had a fine dinner with the entire family before returning exhausted to Sarah's.

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