Silly Scribblings from NYC

I found this sheet of note paper in among some stuff.  It is my doodles from my time in New York; times not captured by camera; the everyday people I encountered or interacted with; the stories of my wendings around the city.  I show you the two sides of the sheet, and then tell the stories under each doodle.  Hope I don't shock or bore. (grin)

The lady was skin and bones, curled up on the sidewalk, rocking slightly, her stuff around her.  I had a half a sandwhich in my backpack, so I gave it to her, and laid a hand on her for a moment.  I don't know if she even knew I was there.  (I also used to buy bananas - 5 for $1 - and eat some, and hand out some to the street people, since you can feed quite a few people with $2.  Several of them seemed taken aback by being handed a banana.)

I went into a little side-park in Manhattan to eat my donut, and these various fellows came into the area after I had.  The one fellow seemed unhappy with my presence, so, with hand signals and expressions, I asked the two on the bench if I should leave.  They shrugged "I don't know".  The angry guy started stomping around, so I signalled that I was leaving, and then flashed the two the peace sign.  One of them shouted out "I like you!".  I still don't know if they knew the angry guy, or if they had business with him, or what.

I was at corner of Central Park, sipping a cuppa, when I spotted this clean, tidy little family being offered bike rentals by one of the ubiquitous sales people.  While the parents were held in sway, the kids were obviously leery of the old Aqualung dude on the bench, who was muttering and gesturing to himself, but with his eyes occasionally peering at them.  The brother of the two girls was most protective.  I hung out until the parents escaped the young bike-rep and went on their way.

I'm outside Penn Station, waiting to take some bus or train, having a smoke, when this ripped-shirt, stained pants guy comes up to me to bum a cigarette. (there were many of those).  I gave him one, and lit it, and we smoked a minute.  Then he looks at me, and says "where are you from", as if I'm certainly from someplace he's not familiar with.  When I tell him California, he seems to think that makes sense.  Hmmmm.  Was it my outfit?

This one's going to upset my mother.  I was "burning one" in a special place I'd found in Central Park, when these two guys and their pit bull come near, setting up their zone about 30 ft away.  The dog bounds over, and luckily is friendly, and one of the guys comes to talk.  I offer him a smoke, but he has his cig, so we chat a bit.  But really, his friend and he wish I'd go away.  Finally, I clue in - they want to shoot up.  So I say, "well, I'll leave you some space", and I wander off.

I met up with Dennis several times on my morning walks when I was staying with Jeffery in Brooklyn.  I'd met another fellow (Brian?) who worked for Ready Willing and Able, and in looking for him, I met Dennis. It was fun to spend just five minutes saying good morning to someone who was happy to say good morning back.  I learned just a tad about what it's like to live in NYC for most of your life, too.  

I loved to head up to Central Park early enough to see the Dog Hour, when people could bring their dogs and let them off their leashes to play.  I'd get a cuppa and a powdered jelly donut, and bring my journal to write in, or my stitchery, and I'd just watch the world go by.  One day, a girl and her dog came to share my space and a bit of chit-chat.  She hung out quietly, sort of shyly, for about 10 or 15 munutes, and then she and her dog wandered off.

Walking down Columbus or 8th above the Park, a cross-dressed man walked and talked with me about his experiences in the city as a renter; the costs of various neighborhoods, and how things used to be.  It was really interesting.

There you go, my cartoons.  Grandma Loo, I'm thinking of you!