I had forgotten. It had been so long since I felt the warm sun on my face that I could kiss the sky with my now unchapped lips. This is divine. Atlanta at 50 degrees is lovely and at 68 degrees it is lovelier. In case you are wondering why I am mentioning any of this, I am taking a week off from the winter to spend some time in sunny Georgia where my sister's family now lives.
The trip down here wasn't easy although it is never easy to get out of NYC. Like a black whole, its concentrated mass and energy and won't let anything or anyone escape. If you tried to take the Holland Tunnel on a Saturday you would know what I mean. But it probably isn't just the traffic or the long and winding subway-train-monorail ride to Newark that deters New Yorkers from a great escape. It is something intangible and mysterious and etched into our characters: addiction to deli coffee.
Our flight was delayed due to a few tornadoes that ripped through the southern states. But that didn't scare us. Well, who am I kidding. It was a frightening day to fly and I kept imagining that we would end up in Oz. The television at LaGuardia airport was turned down too low to hear and apparently none of the employees ever discovered closed-captions so we couldn't figure out why CNN kept flashing the word Katrina. Everyone in broadcast news is just itching for another disaster. At least they didn't drag Ms. Spears into news about the weather.
Still, we made it safe and sound and guess what? The suburbs of Atlanta aren't so different from the suburbs up north. They do have a few differences like the waffle house chain restaurant, lots of bbq eateries, and politeness. It is nice to get a dose of southern hospitality. Yes ma'am. New Yorkers are great, don't get me wrong, and we have plenty of reasons to approach strangers with caution. When we share a laugh, it is a hearty one. When we converse, we get deep into the meat of an issue. And the climate down here--I'll tell you what! But I'm still a Brooklyn girl and I'll put up with it as long as it puts up with me.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
