I love this place

A few weeks ago I ran away from home. It happens from time to time. Usually I seek out empty places, places with rocks and trees and not much else. I often run away to tune out the chatter that makes up my daily life. This trip was not like that.

Every once in a while I need to dive headfirst into an environment that is not my own.

There's something exhilarating about losing oneself in the flow of a crowd. I hear languages I can't quite place and imagine lifestyles far removed from my own. Plus, locals can teach you to jaywalk without fear. I have mastered this.

I've stood in awe at the bottoms of canyon walls. Human architecture can inspire that same feeling.

The nocturnal side of me feels very welcome in a city where Ukrainian food is on offer 24/7 and a walk home from the theater at midnight just means wading through a slightly smaller sea of tourists at Rockefeller Plaza.

Actually, it's not all that different from a long hike in the woods. With a good map and a great curiosity, I felt at home. Instead of looking for interesting rocks, I sought out bagels and new machines that I had read about online.

My very own TARDIS, courtesy of the Makerbot folks.

And while the landscape may have been a little foreign, I still found myself drawn to the same things that make me happy at home. Plants, animals and beautiful things.

Central Park is pretty high on the list of my all-time favorite places anywhere. I've been obsessed by their elm trees since I first saw them seven years ago and I chose our pedicab driver partly based on his knowledge of them.

The High Line and the views from it have also been added to my list of best places. Thanks to the internets, I followed its evolution from wonderful idea to real place over the last few years and it was great to finally be able to walk it.

Flowers were in full bloom at virtually every corner market. As I wondered who bought all those bouquets, I felt myself contemplating a purchase of my own, simply because they were there. Mystery solved.

There's not a whole lot of wildlife in the city, but I adore what is there. I was introduced to the library lions by a friend in college and I make a point to visit when I get the chance.

Fortitude 2012

Patience 2005

 And where else can you find a dinosaur playing air piano?

Lovely things were all around.

For four days I walked and walked, and I saw more of Manhattan than I'd ever seen before. From midtown to Chelsea and back again, till my feet were worn out. I ate wonderful food (food cart falafel is the best) and met ridiculously nice people (gruff New Yorkers were noticeably absent). And still I missed so much. So I've decided to go back once a year if I can. Irving, the pedicab driver, said that the park is amazing in every season and I want to see that.

I followed the news out of New York pretty closely last week and watched as my hotel, the restaurants I ate at and most of the places I visited lost power. The street I photographed from the hotel roof looking east was likely underwater by Monday night. I've given money to the Red Cross and to the NYC food trucks who are getting hot meals out to Staten Island and other areas in need of the most help, and if I could go back now, I would, and I'd bring my gloves and a shovel. I know I could never live there, but sometimes the city is just what I need.