There truly is no place like home. Last week I had my first opportunity to spend a long 4 day weekend with the family in TN. It was great, and loved just hanging out with everyone. Laura and I got to celebrate Valentine’s day with a nice dinner in Chattanooga. The humorous highlight of the weekend came from Cassie. For a few days, her hands would turn a bluish gray, especially in the evening. We were all worried, wondering what mysterious illness she might have contracted (anemia, circulatory problems, etc.). I finally did what we all do in this day and age….sought the advice and council of the Internet. After sifting through all of the dire diagnosis, and seeing just how many people were affected by this, there was one blog that caught my eye. It basically started like this: “I know what the problem is and it’s easy to fix”. The diagnosis……new blue jeans. I looked at Cassie and her blue hands and sure enough, she had on a brand new pair of jeans. I told her to go scrub her hands and sure enough….no more blue. So thankful we didn’t make a trip to the emergency room. Granted, it would have made this post funnier, but could have made for a long, embarrassing day. After seeing everyone, it was difficult heading to the airport to come back to NY. But here I am, sitting in a little coffee shop on 86th and Amsterdam writing about my adventures. I’m really thankful the temperature has started to rise (a little). Days are now peaking in the high 30’s which is my cue to get back out and run. I’ve packed on 7 lbs since 1/1, all due to the amazing quality and range of food here and it being way to cold to run. That has to stop now! I ran Saturday and plan to run 4 days this week in the mornings. You can see below my a pic of Riverside park, my favorite venue to run. If that ever gets old, there is always Central Park. The last thing I want to mention this week is that I continue to learn new things every day. This adventure has been a great education so far. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a lot easier to move from the South to NY than vice versa, but only if you love diversity, change and new adventures. Everywhere I go, there are new people to meet, most with completely different backgrounds.  I don’t need to travel to see new cultures…they’re all here. If I want French food, there are french communities, where the primary language is French. Creole, no problem. Romanian, check and it goes on and on and on. In fact, our pastor today said there are over 800 languages spoken in NYC alone. There is actually a dialect of Croatian only spoken in Queens (it’s a dead language in Croatia). So virtually everyone is from somewhere else. It can be disorienting if you can’t adjust. With the right attitude though, it’s the recipe for adventure. God is truly amazing and He is such a creative God. I see that every day in the distinct faces and voices of the people of NY. Well, until next time…

So, after being here for in NYC for 5 weeks, the cold was starting to get old. It’s not just the cold because I actually like winter. But when it stays below 25 for days and days, that starts to wear on the nerves. Kick in the wind whipping between the buildings and having to walk everywhere, and I was just about ready for spring. Then, Friday and Saturday changed everything. Nemo hit and turned NYC into a winter wonderland. I know it was rough on many, especially north of here, or anyone who got stuck on the road or lost power. But I live just a couple of blocks from Central Park, so when I woke up Saturday with a foot of snow on the ground and took a 5 mile hike through the park, my whole attitude about winter transformed. It was truly amazing. You can see the pictures of the beautiful side of Nemo below. Thousands of people were in the park…hiking, taking pictures, sledding, skiing (really) and just enjoying the beauty of God’s world. It was still cold, but the park was magical. A few other things struck me about the storm. In TN, a foot of snow would shut down the city for days, and there would be no bread or milk on any store shelf. Here, everyone took it in stride. When I left work Friday, right when the storm was starting to hit the City, I saw snow plows parked on the side of streets everywhere, just waiting. New York never stopped, in fact, I don’t think it slowed down. No one rushed the stores to buy supplies, no businesses closed, subways were on time…basically life went on. I know they’re used to snow here, but the preparation and efficiency of the City workers was impressive. Me, being from TN of course went to the local store and bought milk and bread. Which brings another thought to mind. I love the stores here. My local market is called Broadway Farms. I’ll post a picture of it shortly. When I go there or to any store on the Upper West side, I feel like I’m in Europe. Being in a majority Jewish community, most of the food is from Europe. I couldn’t find Kraft cheese (not that I would want to) if I tried, but if I want some “Old Amsterdam” or 157 other types of cheese, no problem.  Also, the store is small, the aisles are so narrow, I can’t walk through them without turning sideways, but they have everything. It’s just UP. I literally mean UP. I needed aluminum foil and it was about 7 feet off the ground on a shelf near the ceiling, luckily I’m pretty tall and could jump and get it without trouble. Fruit, vegetables and fresh meat are amazing and not much more expensive than TN. The difference is how fresh everything is, very little pre-packaged food.
Last thing for this week, I went to a Rangers hockey game and and a Knicks basketball game at Madison Square Garden recently and three things really stood out to me: (1) New Yorkers know their sports and love their teams (2) I learned some new words and some new uses for old words (3) Since 9/11, the Star Spangled Banner has a different feel here, hard to explain but the feeling is palpable.
I get to go home next weekend (4 days) for Valentine’s and can’t wait to see Laura and the kids. In fact, as I write this, Kelly Clarkson is singing Tennessee Waltz on TV (Grammy’s)….makes me home sick. By the way, congrats to Micah Massey, Chris Garmon and Regenerate Music on the Grammy…so proud of you! Until next time…stay warm!