Five Things on Friday: New York City Edition

1. I spent two days in New York City this week, meeting up with my agent, editors, and writer friends.

2. My grandmother used to say I was like a linen suit: I don’t travel well. But Nana would have been proud of me this week as I hailed cabs, navigated streets, and even mastered the subway system.

3. On the teeny balcony of my tiny hotel room fourteen floors above East 42nd Street, I met a massive New York City dragonfly. I can’t believe I didn’t have a camera.

4. My friend Deborah Heiligman gave me an 18-inch square copy of her book FROM CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY for my daughter, and I dutifully carried it around NYC, protecting it from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan pedestrians. Deborah, if you see a spike in sales of that book this week, it is because I was a walking billboard for two days!

5. I am still thinking about the group of five men and women I saw meditating in Madison Square Park yesterday. In that small green space, surrounded by city oceans of people and pets and automobiles and electronics, they managed to sit down, turn off the noise, and breathe themselves to a quieter place. (I have trouble doing that in my empty living room!)