The flight to NYC was uneventful. Jean had checked me in early enough to be in boarding group A so I was able to save her a seat. We mainly wanted to get me aboard early enough to stuff all our carry on luggage in the overhead bins before the hordes boarded. Good ole reliable Southwest! I had previously loaded my iPad with the maximum of Netflix offerings: The Magicians, Parks and Recreation and The Office. I figured I’d have plenty of time to watch all the stuff during the long hours in the air. On this leg I watched the first episode of The Magicians. The airplane noise made it difficult to hear through my ear buds. They’re good ear buds, but not good enough to mask all the ambient roaring. Note to self: get real headphones.
Our flight was landing at Laguardia. The famous Laguardia Airport I had heard of all my life. WHOA! What a shock! It was teeming with huddled masses of pitiful looking people. The facility was cramped, old and depressing. Dirty cracked terrazzo flooring from the fifties was a real outstanding feature. I understand that they’re in the midst of renovations. They’d better hurry.
Our luggage pickup at the carousel was accomplished pretty easily, and once
again the sherbet-green Delseys stood out like sore thumbs. The reflection of all the luggage in the stainless steel post over the carousel was trippy and cool. I had a few fun exchanges with other passengers that also helped ease the pain. Wheeling the Delseys and the four carry ons through the tangled gauntlet to the taxi pickup point was a real fun ordeal.
We managed to get a large taxi van to take us and our masses of luggage to Meg’s apartment in Brooklyn for dinner. During the trip there, the driver and I discussed the impact of Uber on cabbies in NYC. He was appalled at the suicides of several drivers due to drastically cut income, but he also agreed that it was impossible and unfair to keep Uber and Lyft out of the equation.
There was apparently no easy solution to the problem of technology and modernity eroding the security of an antiquated profession.
Arrived at Meg’s apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in a jiffy. What a nice place! It was in a row of brownstone type buildings like the ones that flash by during the opening credits of All in the Family. She was in the upstairs apartment, and it spanned the whole top of the two-story building. A lotta room! We schlepped our suitcases up the front steps and rolled them into the downstairs hall. Meg assured us they would be safe since the main door was always locked. We tried not to block the passage to the downstairs apartment, which was difficult considering the mass of luggage we had.
When we got upstairs into Meg’s apartment she presented me with a little half pint of Maker’s Mark. What a hostess!! She had prepared black bean lasagna and a salad. Both delicious! She was wearing one of Louisa’s old dresses — black with white zebra graphic. How apropos! How cute she looked in it! We heard about her latest successes in the art world — exhibitions and patrons. She also showed us her massive collection of ceramic medallions made by Beriah Wall, a Brooklyn artist who has been creating thousands of the little jewels since the 70s. They all feature different
sayings, random wordplay, musings and other graphic information in relief on the colorful medallions. The artist and his friends leave them in random places all over Brooklyn, NYC and throughout the world. So very cool! Meg was helping the man in his studio and indicated that he was an exacting taskmaster. She also gave Louisa a bag of them to distribute on our trip to Africa. According to one of the articles in the following links, they are already there!
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/nyregion/17coins.html
http://www.star-revue.com/red-hook-coin-man-beriah-wall-exhibit-paintings-emily-kluver/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfTPeIkCAI
After the delicious dinner and great vist, we Ubered to the Fairfield Inn next to JFK. Our overseas flights were originating there. The room was nice, spacious and very clean. Before we went down to their nice breakfast buffet the following day, Jean and I struggled to equalize our luggage weight. Such fun! Such paranoia!