Weather, Here & At Home

Cold weather has arrived.

I awoke in the middle of the night when I heard the heaters kick on. We can't control the heat in our apartment (it's a building-wide system) but the unexpected warmth didn't come a minute too soon. We set up the space heater yesterday, which is all the more sad since we haven't taken out our air conditioner yet.

The weather during our week in Ohio hit both extremes. The high during our first weekend there was about 80 degrees. But the last day began with what I believe was the first frost of the season. But mostly the week was cool and sunny- perfect for taking a few photos around my parents' home:





I took the photos on my last morning in Defiance, when I was already feeling some pre-homesickness about leaving. At home I did the typical vacation activities: shopping, eating, sleeping. But I also spent a lot of time with my parents, grandparents, sister and her new husband.

I once thought Columbus seemed far from home. But at least then I could visit at the last minute or simply for the weekend. Now that it's more of an ordeal, I appreciate the time I spend there even more.

Paul Runs a Marathon!

I'll start at the end.

Paul ran the Columbus Marathon on Sunday in 4 hours 35 minutes. If that isn't impressive enough, his split was about 20 minutes faster than the Brooklyn Half-Marathon he ran in May.

Yes, I'm certainly proud of Paul, but I can't say I understand him. I know that running 26.2 miles is a test of endurance, a goal to strive for. But I could never endure the aches, pains and hours of training. And I guess I only strive for a car with a full tank of gas.

My flight was changed to Sunday evening from Monday daybreak, so I was able to watch Paul try to bend his knees to walk for only a few hours before I had to catch a flight home.

The plane took off an hour late, but worse than that was the trip from the airport to the apartment. Night and weekend trains don't run as often, so between waiting for the bus and three different trains, it took more than two hours to get home-- longer than the flight itself. I already miss how simple things are in Columbus.

Paul returned this afternoon while I was at work (the lucky boy has about twice as many vacation days as I do). More about our Ohio vacation later.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary!

One year and one day. Hard to believe we've been in New York that long already.

Since then I have:

• mastered the subway system (well enough that I can give tourists directions, in any case)
• visited Little Cupcake about 40 times (just a guess)
• figured out which nearby bodegas have the best produce (that took surprisingly long)
• learned to live without a closet in the bedroom (it's not as bad as you think)
• learned to live without a washer or dryer (it's just as bad as you think)

Living in New York still feels like a vacation nearly every weekend. A different museum, a different neighborhood, a different restaurant-- there's always something new to discover and explore.

On that note, we're actually spending our vacation next week not in New York, but in Ohio. Of course we're visiting family and friends, and Paul will be running the Columbus Marathon on Oct. 19. So no posts for 10 days or so, but plenty of pics when we return.

There Goes the Sun #3

The Falconer statue in Central Park, Sept. 2008