A long walk

Today I made my first journey to the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations since the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. The Church Center did not open, but we had heard that our office had sustained damage. I wanted to see.

Given that the subway remained closed and acknowledging my aversion to buses (Sam and Dave are Soul Men – I am a train guy), I took a ride in one of the cars licensed by the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission. I negotiated a price – a more than fair price – before entering the car.

The ride – from W. 123rd and Amsterdam to E. 44th and First Avenue took almost two hours. Two long, slow hours. I doubled the price the driver asked. He continued to thank me after I had left the car.

I arrived at the building and one of the management staff let me enter. I went to our office to discover that one of our windows had blown in. It knocked some equipment off the ledge and blew some paper around the office. I made some phone calls, took some pictures, and prepared to leave.

When I departed from the Shire on the Hudson, I wore my tennis shoes in case I had to walk. Faced with another interminable car ride, I decided that walking made sense – walking the whole way home – from E. 44th Street and First Avenue to La Salle and Broadway on the Upper West Side. It totaled about 15,000 steps on my pedometer. Sean told me that it showed as 5.4 miles on the map.

I broke up the walk nicely. I made my way crosstown to Sean’s apartment at W. 52nd between Broadway and 8th Avenue. After a brief stop, Sean came with me. Together we made our way north. We paused to see the crane that hangs over W. 57th Street like a modern-day Sword of Damocles. At W. 72nd we chose to go up Amsterdam – a wise choice. We ate a late lunch at the Amsterdam Ale House. Lunch completed, Sean turned back south and I continued north.

As I made my way, I noticed that many children were trick-or-treating in the businesses along the street. At W. 86th Street and Amsterdam by West-Park Presbyterian Church, I came across my friend Bob Brashear – pastor of the church. We talked a while and then he returned to his task of responding to the trick-or-treaters and I resumed my walk.

About 6:00, I entered the door of the Shire on the Hudson – tired, refreshed, and filled with a spirit of accomplishment. A long walk completed.

See you along the Trail.