It’s April, I must be in NYC!
It's April, and I find myself in New York City once again. I have the great privilege of spending a week or so here each April in a friend's apartment. On each of these visits, it has been my habit to keep a daily diary and shape those notes into journal entries for this website. This year, events have conspired against me. I simply do not have the energy, the focus, or frankly the desire to keep up that routine.
Last Thursday night, our beloved dog Connor came down with what I can only describe as gastrointestinal distress. He needed to go outside several times during the night, and he was in obvious discomfort — restless, unable to settle. We were very worried about him. This continued through Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday night. Monday morning, I put out Connor's food and he showed no interest. That alone was a sure sign something was wrong. He had thrown up during the night, and that, combined with his listlessness and refusal to eat, had Therese and me seriously considering calling a vet to come to the house and put him down. He's twelve years old. He's had a great life.
Then we took him for a walk — what we thought might be his last. And he had his usual energy, his usual enthusiasm for sniffing out everything the world had to offer. When we got back to the house, he went straight to his food dish and wolfed down his rice, chicken, and pumpkin — the recommended diet for a dog with gastrointestinal distress. He continued to improve through the day, and by Monday evening we were hopeful he would fully recover. But those few days took a real toll on my physical and psychological well-being. His recovery continues.
The hangover from that stretch of worry and care for Connor, combined with the travel to New York, has left a mark on my energy and enthusiasm. There have been physical manifestations of the stress as well. This morning I went out to shoot the city, and I simply did not have what it took to make the work. So tonight, I'm going to rest. I am not going to keep a daily journal. I am not going to post here every night.
What I am going to do is enjoy myself in New York City. I'm going to let the city speak to me. I'm going to take pictures without any concern for what they're of, or whether anyone else will think they're worth looking at. I'm just going to shoot.
P.S. — I did get out and shoot in the late afternoon after I wrote the above. I have put some of those images below. Included with those photos are two black and white photos taken yesterday with my Fuifilm X-Half camera. The one is a photo of the apartment building where I am staying. I had never noticed the tower before. I have since found out it is a water tower — one of the better looking water tower in NYC, in my humble opinion.
Also, I would like to note, that I used em dashes before they became a sure sign of AI in text, and I will continue to use em dashes, damn the AI and full speed ahead!
