Seward Johnson in NYC

After strolling through Central Park to take pictures of Manhattanhenge, Don and I were surprised to see some of our favorite Seward Johnson sculptures -- many of which we had last seen at Grounds for Sculpture during his Retrospective exhibit. We felt as if we had unexpectedly bumped into old friends.

The statues are along Broadway in the Garment District. The Selections from the Retrospective exhibit runs through September 15, 2015.

This story is best told though pictures. Enjoy!

This was one of Ashley's favorites during the Retrospective

What a perfect setting for this particular statue. Around the same time, Ashley saw it in Normandy.

They look a bit out of their element.

I love that the subject he is painting changed to reflect the setting.

While I can picture them strolling the streets of NYC, I picture that stroll taking place more than 100 years earlier.

Some of these are copies of ones still on display at Grounds for Sculpture. If you are in NYC, it is worth a stroll.

Manhattanhenge

Our 20 Child-free Days continued with a trip to NYC to see Manhattanhenge (the sun setting between the buildings). Or as a friend called it something that happens naturally a few times a year, but became a phenomenon due to social media.

Yes, it was something we have heard about over the years and thought would be fun to do. The trouble is, Ashley really hates going into NYC. When I found out it was happening this year on July 12 and 13 -- during the dates Ashley would be in Europe -- Don and I made plans to check it out.

If we are spending the time, energy, and money to go into NYC, we might as well do more than just watch the sunset. Right? We parked in Hoboken and took the PATH to 33rd station, and the subway to the top of Central Park at 125th (on the D line), because the D line came in before the B line, which would have stopped at 110th, the true top of Central Park. What is another 15 blocks? Those extra 15 blocks, and our meandering, meant we nearly missed seeing the sunset.

Back to our wanderings. We went into the St. John the Divine, the church that holds the annual blessing of the bikes each May. As you can see in my pictures, it was pretty overcast at this point. Not the best weather for watching a sunset.

This took us to Central Park. Typically when we walk around Central Park, we start at the bottom and go maybe 1/3 of the way before turning around. This time we decided to start at the top and go to the bottom.

We could see the sun starting to set, so we moved a little faster.

First we passed the "new" Comcast Building. Don works for Comcast and had read the announcement that the GE / RCA building was officially being renamed the Comcast Building.

Onto the main event! Through social media I solicited advice for the best viewing spot. Recommendations included down 72nd, 57th, and 34th. We ultimately went with 34th, with snapshots along the way at each cross street. I think our official best picture was around 37th or 38th. 

Almost as much fun as taking pictures of the sunset, is taking pictures of the people (like us) blocking traffic to take pictures. As the cars were beeping at us to get out of the middle of the street, I wanted to tell them to just look at what was happening and enjoy the moment. The sunset would only last a few minute leaving only memories.

As we wandered back to the 33rd Street Path Station we saw Seward Johnson sculptures. It felt as if we were bumping into old friends.

July 4th Tour of the New Jersey State House

Our foray into doing things Ashley would not enjoy doing continued with a evening bike ride with Trenton Social. Wills creates these rides to coincide with the first Saturday of each month. The group takes a leisurely paced ride through different parts of Trenton. Don has done these rides many times back when they were on Friday nights. This was my first ride.

The group meets in the back of the Trenton Social, a bar/restaurant/lounge. The ride costs $10 a person, but includes a beer a pasta dinner at the end. Don said often they ride a bit as a group, then Wills stops at some place in Trenton and talks about it. It might be gardens, or artwork, or something of historic significance. In honor of the Fourth of July, it was a behind-the-scenes tour of the State House. How does one get access to the State House on a Saturday night of a holiday weekend when the place is locked up tight? It helps to have connections. In this case Reed Gusciori, Assemblyman from the 15th Legislative District since 1996.

Reed got us bike parking in the Governor's entrance.

He, along with Carol, and fellow cyclist and former aide, Jeff, gave our group a really special tour of the State House that often included the phrase "this is not part of the usual tour" and "normally we don't let people sit here." It was also about 90 minutes long on a holiday.

I used to love being able to say "My Congressman is a Rocket Scientist." Now I'm proud to say "My Assemblyman is a bicyclist." That can only mean hope for making roads more pedestrian and bike-friendly.

First he took us to where the Assembly majority group hangs out to hash out bills. Carol added information about the artwork on the walls -- made from thousands of pieces of inlaid wood (hopefully Don's picture turned out better than mine did).

Then we continued to where the Assembly meets as a whole. As a seniority member, Reed's desk is up close. Love the chandelier which was made by Thomas Edison when electricity was new. The wall sconces used to be wired for both electricity and gas. The entire State House received a massive renovation in the 1990s.

Reed also took us to where the Senate meets. It is a lot more formal, though at the same time less impressive feeling than where the Assembly meets. Carol pointed out during a renovation in the 1950s the old desks were replaced with Formica. Fortunately someone had the good sense to return to the more classic look, but their desks are all reproductions.

This is where the Senate majority sits to talk in closed door sessions. Unlike in the Assembly, they sit around one giant table. This room had been a cube farm in the 1970s with a drop ceiling hiding its glory. Fortunately someone decided a renovation was in order.

This is where we leave the legislative branch and enter the executive wing. The two sections do not meet together very often.

The dome from the third floor. Most tours only show the dome from the ground floor. 

Hall of governors' portraits.

The governor's office was off-limits to us. 

A group shot before parting. Behind us is a statue by Boehm depicting the symbols of New Jersey: the oak tree, goldfinch, African violet, and bumblebee. 

From here we rode another two miles back to our starting point. My legs were sore from the ride the day before and were happy to get off of my bike!

High Bridge Ride - NYC

It all began with THIS article and a wish to fill the calendar while Ashley is in Europe for 20 days with People to People. While I hope Ashley blogs about her adventures in England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland when she returns, I am planning on blogging about our kid-free time.

This Spring I bought my first bicycle since becoming an adult. It is a lovely turquoise blue hybrid Trek. It has a very comfortable seat, and shocks. It is girly. It is also heavy. It is not a road bike. 

Our journey started by parking in Palisades Park and riding two miles UP HILL to the George Washington Bridge, a 9/10 of a mile expanse that is (much to my pleasure after riding on the Verrazano's Bridge) pretty flat. It is also free to pedestrians and cyclists.

I stopped to take a couple of pictures and was surprised how much the bridge sways -- something I never noticed in a car. I waited for Don at New York side while he continued to take pictures, unfazed by the sway.

Don was in charge of the route for our NYC ride. His goal was to find the newly opened High Bridge -- a bridge he remembered seeing on a different ride that opened to pedestrians and cyclists less than a month earlier. High Bridge was the city's first aqueduct bringing city folk pure water from Upstate New York in 1842, and, according to the June 4, 2015 New York Times article referenced above "made modern New York possible." It was replaced by other aqueducts and stopped carrying water in the 1950s. In 1995, a 10 year old girl went to her to her community planning board and asked for the bridge to be reopened as a pedestrian walkway. Twenty years later, her wish became a reality.

High Bridge spans the Harlem River on stone arches, and crosses from 173rd street in Manhattan to 170th Street in the Bronx. We can call this our two borough bike ride, though all we did was set wheels in the Bronx before turning back to hunt for Riverside Park.

Views of High Bridge:

It has only been open a month and it is already receiving a lot of activity, which is nice to see.

After our quick turnaround, we continued our ride to find a good entry point to Riverside Park. This turned out to be more challenging than we had thought. After spending some time in a cemetery, we asked a living person for advice. He recommended the bridge at 145th Street. Sounded good to us. It is a nice pedestrian bridge, which we walked our bikes across. The trouble is, the other side is well above Riverside Park. Your options are to go down a tall set of stairs, or take a slow elevator barely big enough for two bikes. Don opted for the stairs. I took the elevator with a couple of strangers -- one of whom commented the elevator was broken much of last summer. It felt like a poor design to me. 

We were finally down in Riverside Park. The views were stunning. Despite it being part of July 4th weekend, it was relatively quiet, with only a few renegade cyclists who seemed to be more interested in training for next year's Tour de France than enjoying the nice day. We continued riding to just under the George Washington Bridge and to the 40-foot tall Little Red Lighthouse I had heard about, and I had seen at the beginning of our journey. It is darling.

Then as the expression goes, or in this case should go, "everything that goes down must come up," we ascended a bike path to a bridge to a few streets to a spiral ramp to get back onto the George Washington Bridge. The return trip did not feel as flat as the trip into NYC had felt. Once back in New Jersey and at our car, we looked at the bridge again. Yes, it does tilt slightly down towards NYC, and no, I am not going crazy (at least not about this). 

All in all, we rode about 16 miles -- most of which seemed uphill to me.

If you decide after reading this post this sounds like fun, please look for the free parking lot at the top of Palisades Park, less than a quarter mile from the George Washington Bridge, and skip paying $10 to park and the giant uphill.

Best as I can tell, the free lot is located at where Bruce Reynolds intersects with Hudson Terrace at Cetral Ave. Plaza Street. As lots become full, they might set up a station, but it was free the day we went. It also had signs saying no cycling, but the policeman who saw me cycling in that area while I was scoping it out did not stop me, and many people had empty bike racks on their cars. The link for more information is: http://www.njpalisades.org/directionsFortlee.html 

Princeton Cyclovia

Last weekend Princeton held an event I bet most people did not even know happened: Cyclovia.

"Ooohhh.... what is cyclovia," you ask? Ciclovia or cyclovia is a Spanish word for "cycleway," or a path free of cars to ride a bike. It is also known as Open Streets. This started in Bogata, Cali, Medellin, Columbia. As of 1974, in these cities they have certain main streets blocked off to cars on Sunday mornings from 7 AM to 2 PM.

In Princeton's case, they closed a stretch of Quaker Road from 1 - 4 PM on Sunday, June 28. Next year's date has not been announced. Locals recognize this as a road that is closed so often due to flooding it has its own gate blocking access from Nassau Park Pavilion to Princeton Pike/Mercer Street. 

Here are some pictures from that day. The three of us rode out together. When we got to the halfway point at the Friends School there was a table from a couple of local bike safety groups. Don stopped by the Updike House where there was another table with another group. Unfortunately Ashley's rear tire popped (we suspect an over-inflation issue) and could not be patched on the spot. Don rode his bike home taking the short cut (along Princeton Pike) and got the car. Once he came back, he and Ashley drove home where he was able to fix the tire with a spare tube. Meanwhile I rode the 7 miles back home again.

As a new cyclist I am learning to appreciate wide bike lanes and riding without cars. I've always tried to give cyclists a wide berth in case the unexpected happens, but not everyone does. While waiting for Don I studied a map someone created trying to show which roads are safe, and which ones (like Route 1) to avoid. Even some of the "safe" ones seemed scary to me as a new rider and a mom. Hopefully events like this will show, just like in the movie "Field of Dreams," if we build it, they will come.

Funerals

Don and I are both from fairly small families. He is one of four siblings. I am one of three. Knock on wood, we are from fairly healthy families, too. That is to say it has been over a decade since we have attended a family funeral. I realized this last week when I learned my Great-Aunt Lee passed away. We last saw her four years ago in her final home in Illinois. She was still enough of herself that our visit was enjoyable. Unfortunately as the years passed, she was overtaken by dementia, so her passing is really a blessing.

When Ashley was a baby we attended a bunch of funerals. Between family and people we knew from church, poor Ashley saw the inside of many funeral homes. There was Ta-ta's funeral when Ashley was 8 months old, followed two weeks later by Great-Uncle Russ's funeral (Aunt Lee's husband). I was really waiting for the "third" one as in, things happen in threes. Don's dad, Pop-pop died not long after Ashley turned two (about a year and a half after Ta-ta) to finish up the "three" for us, and ended the streak of family funerals. 

As we prepare ourselves to say good-bye to Aunt Lee, there is this part of me wondering "who will be next?" Now that the decade-long streak of family funerals has ended, who will I have to say good-bye to next?

Nothing like a funeral to put living into perspective. Nothing like hearing a good eulogy to make you want to become a better person. 

Live as you want your eulogy to read. At Uncle Russ's funeral the words that God was welcoming his "good and faithful servant" have echoed as an inspiration to me. Will God say the same when I go through the Pearly Gates or will I be reminded of the strangers I ignored and everything I could have, should have done better? 

What can I do to leave this world a better place? 

Make time for family. You don't know how much longer you'll get to spend time with them in this world. That is the message I am leaving you with today.