There are some friends in town. They came in separate planes, some of them left without seeing me. There was an email or two. Some I met. For dinner, for lunch. How is such and such?... Oh, he is now with such and such. And he is now doing this and that. They all move along on fine orbits.
Pulled Max Frisch from the shelf. He writes in 1968 that the question Americans always ask their first time visitors is something along the lines of “how do you like it here, and what impresses you most.” As if the grandeur of the place came with the eyes of the European visitors. Then, upon the second visit, the question is “What do you feel has changed since your last visit?” New York is a living thing. It is different every day. Is the question asked because we New Yorkers do not see the changes, because we are too close to them? Are we looking for praise for the accomplishments of the large powerhouses of the economy?, the small businesses?...
It is interesting. We did not talk about the changes in the skyline this time. It was more about how we survive in these times. And how we can help the ones around us, who are less fortunate. (Friends, strangers..)
I found out about two quite unpleasant events in the lives of two unrelated friends. Life is filled with surprises. The current situation brings people to decisions they would have never made before.
Boy, plenty of abstraction here.
I thought about writing more about the times past as well. Some of the memories are so faint, that I will not be able to write them in the first person. Forgive if some of the descriptions will put me into the seat of the observer even more... There is just so much more to tell. Things much more clear than this current post.