I had a moment in the late afternoon, where I sat on this bench overlooking the East River for an hour. It was the fastest, slowest, most peaceful hour I’ve had in a long time. I simply sat. I thought about how I got here, and where I’m going. I thought about all the people in every tall building in Manhattan, before my eyes, and every wayfarer in the grids of street below. I watched the Staten Island Ferry slug its way back and forth a handful of times, I saw sailboats drift along the water, I saw ships of every shape. I spotted airplanes like seagulls and seagulls like clouds working their way across the sky, and helicopters landing on rooftop pads, like flies on a windowsill. I felt sunlight and the shining day upon my face, watched a beam of gold trickle along the water that rippled soft. I felt at ease, I felt at home.

There is something to be loved about a peaceful moment in the city.

This is Cody. I saw him sitting in his chair on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, and I couldn’t just keep walking — I had to ask him for a photo. Cody tells me that he’s the “sheriff” of the area, and he has sizable gold rings from his years with the police to prove it (see picture). Cody is the first man I’ve seen in New York wearing cowboy boots and a real cowboy hat — and a red tie to top it off. Plus, he was just as curious about North Dakota as I was about him.

Rock Chalk Prospect Place

Since our new roommate, Margaret, moved in last week, Prospect Place has been undergoing all sorts of facelifts. Yes, we may actually be on the road to adulthood furnishings! Among them a fabulous new sectional couch (bidding farewell to our much-detested loveseats), several fresh pieces of shelving, and perhaps my favorite: the chalkboard. 
The moulding on our walls lends itself for a nice frame to create an effortless chalkboard. With a $15 can of special paint, we were able to turn one panel into a giant, fun, evolving work of art in under an hour. I love that I can practice lettering. So many possibilities — games, messages, dinner party menus, quotes, or fun reminders. I want to paint my life a chalkboard (not really, but it’s that fun).

—jc—