The sports theme of the tour continued. John Gingrich, Don Jang and I went to the Barclays Center for the Legends Classic. Men’s basketball. Penn State, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M played.
It was my first time to Barclays. An impressive facility.
The tour went to a Columbia University football game. It was the final game of their season. They played Brown, who seems to be the opponent for the final game every year.
Don Jang and John Gingrich went along. Every game I have ever seen Columbia play, I have seen with John and Don.
But there was something different this year. Columbia won. This is the first time they won a game when I was there. Hopefully it marks the start of a trend.
Of course I did not get any photos. But here’s their logo.
16 October 2017
New York, New York
Ordered to support the daughter of a friend;
awesome that they came in purple.
It’s been quite a fall and early winter. The big news is that I have returned to New York. My leaving was chronicled in the Until We Meet Again Tour.
The reentry has been complicated; it involved several trips out of the city. But things are becoming more stable and it is time to document the new We Meet Again Tour.
It starts, where else:
I was feeling grumpy.
OK, I was feeling grumpy-er. Always play to one’s strengths.
I was walking down Fifth Avenue, heading to Rockefeller Center.
Visitors to New York filled the sidewalk. They stopped in the middle and made quick turns. They abruptly countermarched, heading back uptown without warning.
My blood pressure rose. My ire increased. And then I saw her.
She sat in a wheel chair, looking at the lights and the sights.
I do not know her name and never learned her story. It was inappropriate to ask. But I wondered.
Was this her first time in New York – the culmination of a long-time dream?
Was she a long-time city resident?
Was this an annual visit?
In the end, the reason mattered not. All that mattered was her face.
She glowed. Amazement. Wonder. Delight. Many words could describe her face and bearing. But the one that works best for me, is joy. Simple joy. Pure joy. Unabashed joy. I have not seen such joy often, but I have seen it enough that I recognize it when I do.
I saw joy that day and I carried it in my heart to Rockefeller Center. I hope it showed, just a little, on my face.
See you along the trail.
P.S. – the photo was taken inside the Time Warner Center on the same day. I did not get any photos at Rockefeller Center. I will be back.
The Advent devotional project, #AdventWord is offered by the Society of St John the Evangelist. Each day a word is provided and participants are invited to share images and/or reflections and to use hashtags so our reflections may be included in an Advent Calendar with others from around the world.
Filed under Advent, Antiracism, New York, Photo
The Advent devotional project, #AdventWord is offered by the Society of St John the Evangelist. Each day a word is provided and participants are invited to share images and/or reflections and to use hashtags so our reflections may be included in an Advent Calendar with others from around the world.
The sun claws its way
up the buildings,
a pink hue
shyly peeking over the up,
until at last,
morning comes again.
1 December 2017
I passed this fence on my way to St. James Presbyterian Church to a meeting with colleague and friend Derrick McQueen. It was on St. Nicholas between the 145th Subway Station and the church. Interesting that it was purple.
Along the Graybeard Trail 