I thought I’d do something different today and write a bit as the day goes on. I’m heading down to Bryant Park in NYC to take some street photos and I’ll write this as I go along. As of this first paragraph I’m sitting at home after eating breakfast and packing my day bag full of stuff. Unfortunately I have poison ivy at the moment. That could really put a damper on things but I’ll give it a go. It’s mostly on my lower legs but I also have some on my wrists. I really should have put on my long pants before doing yard work last week. Regrets. I hope the poison ivy doesn’t slow me down too much today. I’ve been using some anti-itch spray on it but I don’t think a spray bottle will carry well. Plus I’ve got long pants on over the poison ivy for the first time this week so it’ll be tough to use the spray. I’m going to stop off and get some cream.
Now we flash forward and I’m sitting at the train station in Nanuet waiting for the train. I drove fifteen minutes to get here and now I wait. That’s one of those things that people never mention when you ask them how long their commute is. The waiting time. Sure there is none if you’re driving all the way but if you have to take a train or bus add an extra ten minutes to your commute. You don’t want to chance it getting the there just as the bus or train arrives. You’ll miss a lot of trains that way. I’m here fifteen minutes early so I’ve got a wait. My poison ivy is making things pretty uncomfortable. My legs have a low level burning and itching to them. No fun.
Now I’m on the train and moving. I’m taking this one to Secaucus Junction and then catching another one for a quick ride into Penn Station. Normally I read on the train. The first two trips in this year I saved a issue of the magazine “The Sun” to read on the train but this time I decided to try writing on the train. I’m writing on my iPad. It all seems a little clumsy as I try to type on glass as the train shakes. For years I took a bus into the city but back in 2008 they cut the bus schedule in half and it became much less reliable. I’ve been stranded waiting for a bus that never showed up. The went from running every half hour to every hour. If one didn’t show up it was a long wait for the next one. If I was still commuting into the city I might take the bus but off peak it can’t be counted on. At least the train shows up when it’s supposed to. It’s fun to watch the scenery go by and the traffic stops for us. That beats being stuck in traffic.
Well I made it to the city and now I’ll take a little break an write for a moment. I got off the train at Penn Station and then went outside to take some photos. I took some outside of the station for a few minutes because that is a solid place for people watching. Or street photo taking. After that I walked up Seventh Avenue taking photos as I went. Let me tell you the poison ivy is distracting. I stopped at a place on 7th and bought some anti itch cream. I couldn’t put it on then and there so I continued on my way to Bryant Park and then immediately sat down and put some on. It helped but I still feel the pants rubbing against it.
After the cream I walked around the park taking photos as I went. This is the first time I’ve been here on as Sunday as I’m usually down on Saturday and there are fewer people. Of course it’s also the fifth of July so a lot of locals are out of town. After the park I made my way to the front steps of the library and shot there for a while. Plenty of people taking photos on those steps for me to take photos of. Now I sit writing and applying more cream. This poison ivy is evil. Time for some baby carrots.
Here I am again waiting for a train in Secaucus. I’ve got a half hour wait this time since I caught a slightly earlier train at Penn Station then the one that hooks up with the train to Nanuet. I always think I should stay and take pictures longer but that ends up being too long. I get there at 10:30 and leave about 3:00. That’s four and a half hours of walking and taking photos. That takes more out of me these days than I think it will. After I’m done writing this I’m going to have another granola bar. I used to come home from a day like this and get a headache. I think it was because I didn’t eat enough. I like to stay light on my feet when I shoot and not eat a lot but I think I payed a price for that. Today I ate more as I shot an didn’t get a headache.
The afternoon went pretty much like the morning. I walked around the park many times and went to the front of the library multiple times too. I walked up and down 41st between 5th and 6th avenues a few times. I set myself down a couple of times an had a snack and shot from a chair few a few minutes. This gave my itching poison ivy a little while to calm down. Between the sweat from my legs and my pants rubbing against it my legs were itchy the whole time. I never scratched it though because that would only make things worse. As I sit here at the train station I have my pants legs rolled up and I put some more anti-itch cream on. I must be quite the sight. But at least the itching calmed down.
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