Interesting times continue. This was my last look at the intersection of Broadway and Houston Street in SoHo on Tuesday, St. Patrick's Day. It had been a drizzly morning but was clearing up nicely by the time I was heading home, and ordinarily this would've been busy, but things were already well wound down.
This was my office earlier in the day. There were actually a couple of people besides me on this floor, but it was definitely a ghost town. Scholastic had encouraged staff to start working from home starting the Friday before; I was a little behind the curve because although I wouldn't call myself a technophobe, as far as connection speed and upgrades and what have you, I'm definitely a techno-meh. I've also resisted the work-from-home thing for my entire business life; I know a lot of people who like it but I've always preferred to keep a very clear boundary between work and home. That all being the case, it took a couple of extra days. I'd meant to start on Tuesday but couldn't get onto TQ's wifi, and after a good honest attempt with him trying to help me from work, I decided I would just go on in (we were encouraged to work from home but the office was open, so that wasn't any trouble) and we could sort things out when we were both home in the evening. That worked out fine and I'm now 2 surprisingly ordinary days into working from home.
Strange seeing such an empty SoHo.
Also strange suddenly having the Sebago early season go away - April is usually the time when things start happening, but of course big gatherings in the clubhouse are off the table for the time being.
Paddling is still a fine social distance type sport, though, and I did jump on a very empty bus to Canarsie on Sunday. The week before had left me seriously on edge and very worried about the working from home thing. I barely did anything on Saturday - maybe laundry? - but I'd been itching all week to get out on Jamaica Bay and on Sunday afternoon I managed a most satisfying Social Isolation Paddle. I wouldn't actually have been opposed to having friends join me, but I just wasn't organized enough, and sometimes a solo paddle can be the best unwind - you do have to be more careful, but you can just go as far as you want, at whatever pace you want.
We've been seeing seals at Ruffle Bar regularly, and during the week I'd been thinking I would take my binoculars & go see if I could watch them without disturbing them (they are very skittish about kayaks when they're hauled out), but I ended up deciding not to bother them and go look for spring birds on Canarsie Pol and Broad Channel Island instead. Oystercatchers could be back already, but I didn't see or hear any. It's definitely a little bit early for the ospreys who use the Canarsie Pol nest platform, and I could see from halfway down the island that they weren't back yet, the cormorants were still hanging out on the pier next to the platform. They like that as a nice spot to perch and dry their feathers in the wintertime, but the ospreys are very territorial and once they get back those cormorants have to find another spot.
But it was still a lovely day, and it was great seeing the new flowers at the club (the daffodils, crocuses, and cherry blossoms in the last post were there), and hey, you can't get much more socially isolated than this without actually leaving NYC.
Strange seeing such an empty SoHo.
Also strange suddenly having the Sebago early season go away - April is usually the time when things start happening, but of course big gatherings in the clubhouse are off the table for the time being.
Paddling is still a fine social distance type sport, though, and I did jump on a very empty bus to Canarsie on Sunday. The week before had left me seriously on edge and very worried about the working from home thing. I barely did anything on Saturday - maybe laundry? - but I'd been itching all week to get out on Jamaica Bay and on Sunday afternoon I managed a most satisfying Social Isolation Paddle. I wouldn't actually have been opposed to having friends join me, but I just wasn't organized enough, and sometimes a solo paddle can be the best unwind - you do have to be more careful, but you can just go as far as you want, at whatever pace you want.
We've been seeing seals at Ruffle Bar regularly, and during the week I'd been thinking I would take my binoculars & go see if I could watch them without disturbing them (they are very skittish about kayaks when they're hauled out), but I ended up deciding not to bother them and go look for spring birds on Canarsie Pol and Broad Channel Island instead. Oystercatchers could be back already, but I didn't see or hear any. It's definitely a little bit early for the ospreys who use the Canarsie Pol nest platform, and I could see from halfway down the island that they weren't back yet, the cormorants were still hanging out on the pier next to the platform. They like that as a nice spot to perch and dry their feathers in the wintertime, but the ospreys are very territorial and once they get back those cormorants have to find another spot.
But it was still a lovely day, and it was great seeing the new flowers at the club (the daffodils, crocuses, and cherry blossoms in the last post were there), and hey, you can't get much more socially isolated than this without actually leaving NYC.
4 comments:
I’m glad you could enjoy,
I did the “work from home” thing for 5-6 weeks after Sandy. It’s not so bad once you establish a routine.
How I envy you your blue water! What a peaceful, beautiful way to spend a few hours!
I downloaded a detailed map of New York and found the bays and backwaters you speak about. It's almost like being there with you.
Almost...
Sometimes I think the coronavirus happened because it is Mother Nature's Way of saying, "Enough!"
I can't imagine living in this city without having this escape.
Diane, I'm so glad you did that! One of my boatblogging friends, Will Van Dorp at Tugster, coined the term "The Sixth Borough" for NYC's waterways. And they really are a community and a world unto themselves. Love sharing my peaceful little corner of that world!
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