Waterloo, NY

I’m out here three thousand miles from my home. It was just three days ago that I was in Sacramento playing Connect Four with my nephew, and now I’m temporarily settled at my aunt, uncle, and cousin's—my nearly four month long journey has begun. But there’s not much journeying over here. Right now, I am upstairs lying on a lush, white comforter atop a seemingly unused queen sized, brass bed in a room all to myself. I would say that I feel as comfortable as being home, but neither Sacramento nor San Luis Obispo feels quite this cozy. Somehow I managed to sleep for twelve hours last night; this is something that I can truly say I have never done. My aunt and uncle have been nothing but accommodating and hospitable towards me, from giving me my own quiet wing of the house, all the way down to them respecting my annoying and unusual dietary choices (e.g. I have an unlimited supply of raw KALE).

My room for the week

When most hear the words ‘New York,’ they automatically imagine the hectic, thriving metropolis of New York City. But the quaint town of Waterloo, filled with its lakes, canals, and more greenery than the eye can filter, could not be any more dissimilar from the City. We have had the chance to go swimming and tubing on Seneca Lake. And the canal that runs through their backyard (and connects to the Eerie canal) is great for swimming, kayaking, or turtle watching.

View from their backyard

A bridge on the way from Ithaca to Waterloo

On Wednesday, we got a chance to drive up to Ithaca to visit the man, the myth, the legend himself, Michael David Greenspan. He is currently recovering from an unknown accident that left him with three torn ligaments in his ankle. Some believe it to be a freak double-dutch jump roping incident, some think it was from an encounter with the infamous herd of vicious-traveling-mime-gamblers who frequent the greater New Orleans area, while others simply believe it to be AIDS of the foot. But even with his mysterious injury, we still managed to dine at Moosewood, a beautiful vegetarian restaurant in downtown Ithaca.

Here is the restaurant and Michael scanning the scene to make sure there are no mimes around 

From left: Dennis, Ian, Susie, Nick (face still un-mangled), Michael (looking fabulous)

On Saturday, September 4^th, I will be visiting the place that my Bob Dylan likes to call, “New York Town.” After hearing others’ testimonials on the glory of NYC, I can’t help but have a small amount of anticipation built up. My friend Michael Croom is absolutely fascinated by the place, but mind you that some call him The Exaggerator. I still love him. And baby Bob Dylan once had this to say about NYC, “…You can step on my name, you can try to leave me beat, but when I leave New York, I’ll be standin’ on my feet.” For now, I’m going to take it one step at a time, and enjoy the rest of my stay in tranquil Waterloo.  I miss you all so much already (except for the few of you that I don’t miss at all. And you, the creepy stalker that is following my blog, I don’t miss you either).

My nephew, the holy man himself 

Song of the day: “Time Has Told Me” by Nick Drake