Goodbye, West Village

Today was a perfect Fall weather day, the quality of light signaling the shortening days, never really getting hot, cool by evening. I kept bumping into people I've gotten to know by sight, dogs I coo over. But walking to the Anjelika to see Manda Bala, I saw a side street I'd somehow missed a dozen other times, and at the end of that street was a giant Mexican restaurant with a red & white painted exterior. The paint job alone made me want to go inside and I thought, I'll have to check that out...when?

I know it's only from the West Village to the East Village, and in the past year alone I've lived in Qatar, India, and now NYC, but somehow it feels more significant. I think it's because the NYC I've found here has been everything I hoped New York would be for me. The classes, the people, the inspiration. What will the "there" be there?

Just looked back at this picture of my place in Doha. Oy.









Here's the new place, complete with the former resident, the delightful Miss Helen. It will be the first time in years I've lived in a place that's mine.