December in New Jersey

More Wandering in NY

The Woolworth Building...

Looking south from Battery Park...

Snow in the city!!!

The WTC site...

On the Manhattan Bridge...

Looking back at the Brooklyn Bridge and downtown from the Manhattan Bridge...

One of many incredibly delicious pizza places on the Lower East Side.

Wandering in Manhattan

Central Park...

The East River...

Grand Central Station...

A seagull with the Statue of Liberty in the background...

Welcome back, to me!

I've just turned in my last paper of the semester, and am now looking forward to a long and well-deserved Christmas vacation! In case anyone wondered about the shocking lack of posting over the last couple of months or so, there were several good reasons (namely, my oral comprehensive exam - which made the entire semester horribly stressful, plus a bout with pneumonia, and the permanent crash of my poor laptop). I guess I will just do what I did in August (after not posting for months)... slowly add my favorite pictures from the fall over the next few weeks. These are a couple of my favorites, from San Francisco at Thanksgiving.

Another picture I took at the Farm this summer...

Do we look alike?

C&O Canal Trail Ride

These pictures are from a ride I took last Saturday. A couple of weeks ago, I made the single best purchase of my entire life - a beautiful Trek 1200 road bike. I had spent months looking on Craigslist for just such a bike that was within my price range. I bike everywhere (usually over an hour a day, since school and work are both 10 miles away, roundtrip), so needless to say, it has revolutionized my life.

These first two pictures are of the C&O Canal Trail, which runs along the canal, as well as the Potomac River, which you see above. When I discovered the trail last spring I decided that I liked DC much better.

The trail ends in Georgetown, and from there I biked down to the monuments, just for fun...

... and on through Chinatown.

Urban Sunrise

Who says you can't watch a beautiful sunrise from the middle of a city? This is the view from my window this morning.

The Desert

So, a while back, Amanda asked me to explain my brief comment about things not making sense in the desert. This (below) is something I wrote on the plane as I was leaving Arizona this summer. Whenever I talk about the work I did on the border with anyone, the first word I always find myself using is "intense." It was very intense in every sense of the word... I would like to try to post more of my thoughts, reflections, and photos from the months I was there, even though it is very difficult to convey so many of the things that are part of that reality.

*Note: if there is any of the Spanish that anyone doesn't understand and wants to, let me know and I will translate in the "comments."

Faces all around, feet moving, still. Seen
and unseen.
Walking single file in the dark journey north.
A journey? What to call the movement
away from violence, hunger, exploitation.
What other options?
Quiero un futuro mejor, eso quiero
pa’ mis hijas.
How can so many souls be so silent?
Moving in silence, sitting in silence.
Whispers. Dark clothing. A
prelude to the life ahead
in this ‘land of the free’ – washing our dishes,
building our homes, tending our gardens, picking
our food – invisible, unacknowledged.
Tanto sufrimiento.
Tanto corazón.

What tricks must one play on oneself to
be able to take the next step?
This is for my children, for a better future,
for escape from what was.
Tanto sacrifício.
Tragedy and beauty, courage and evil,
Woven into a tangled strand of
what?

What can I possibly say in the face of this?
So many tears I have witnessed, helpless.
Strong men and women, with more courage
than I have ever been called upon to possess.
Sobbing, broken.
Francisco, padre de dos hijitas, sitting on a cot
in his hawaiian shirt, shoulders hunched, the
tears falling.
La vida es duro.
Tan duro.
Entiendo, entiendo – but how can I understand
any of it, with my plane ticket and my college
degree and my passport.

Anger, intense anger, which I may or may not
have the right to feel, at this system,
at my own ciudadanos, brothers and sisters,
who strip others of their dignity,
forcing them to this.
Oaxaca es hermosa, pero no hay dinero.
Every time I look at Francisco’s
face, I want to cry.

Fantasies, dreams of what I would do
if it wasn’t like this. Come, let me
wash your feet and cook for you and
make you a soft bed in a cool, shady
place where you can rest and dream,
sin pensar en el camino,
el camino tan duro.
And the horrors that have passed.
Cactus spines and helicopters.
Banditos who take everything you have
and more.
What does a woman feel before undertaking
this nightmare?
Quiero un futuro mejor pa’ mis
hijas, por eso lo hago.
As the tears fall.

Union Square Green Market

Yesterday we spent most of the day walking around Manhattan. It was wet and drizzly, but not too cold. Here I am eating a delicious prune-plum that reminded me of the Farm (not that I just ate one - we bought a pound and I definitely consumed the lion's share).

The pumpkins, squash, and corn were a reminder that the summer is over...

This is an ear of roasted sweet corn, served hot and dripping with butter. Mmmm!!

Manhattan street market

A few more pictures

These row houses are typical for DC. I am in love with the colors... people are so creative. Isn't it neat how different cities have their own distinct architecture? You could identify the location immediately if you saw a street in San Francisco or New York.

These are of Jason and I last weekend at my very favorite coffee shop ever, Dos Gringos, in the lovely neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant.

Here is one final picture of my room. You can see it still needs a lot of decorating work, but the left wall is entirely papered with old maps, in the style of Em's and my Chico apartment!

My beautiful habitation!

Here is the dining room...

and living room...

These last two are of my bedroom, upstairs...

...here is my beautiful plant and adorable heater!

At long last!

Isn't it fantastic? It's nearly one hundred years old! So historic. And all three of the upstairs windows go to my very own bedroom. Pretty much the polar opposite of my basement home of last year in terms of size and light :-)