What must be the last piece of confetti not swept up by the NYC Sanitation Department has claimed me as a victim. It is early morning on the first day of the new year and I am mindlessly ambling my way through a very desolate Times Square. A light drizzle of freezing rain casts an eery pall on this iconic landscape. It’s hard to believe that only hours ago these streets were filled with millions of giddy revelers anxious to bring in a new year punctuated by the decent of the Times Square Ball – marking the passing of Time for over a century now.
Warm visions of the holiday festivities are dancing through my head. These past weeks have been a blur of celebratory activity. Like the New Year’s Eve crowds, they’re gone in a whirlwind, leaving behind a treasure trove of memories. I get to thinking, “What is TIME and where does it actually go”?
Too much heavy thinking so early in the morning! In desperate need of a steaming hot cup of Joe, I step inside a dimly-lit Deli tucked into the Garment Center off of Seventh Avenue. The friendly jingle of the door’s overhead bells snap me out of my heady haze and back to reality. Mmmmm….strong brew with a touch of steamed milk and I’m good to go. “OK..”, I say to myself, “2016 is going to be my year. I’m going to be out there and embrace all that this city has to offer. I’m going to challenge myself to be the best “me” whether it’s hanging with the art crowd or swinging from a trapeze. I might even join the crowd on the “No Pants on the Subway Day!!”
Resolute and armed with new-found determination, I exit the deli in search of a cab. If I time it just right, I can still make that mid-day spin class uptown.
“TAXI!!!!!!
Lucky for me there just happens to be an old checkered cab turning the corner. I open the back door and scuff off the dainty, yet equally determined piece of pink confetti from my Hunter rain boot. As I convey the address of my destination to the gentleman behind the plexiglass screen, I’m thinking that my holiday hangover is worse than I thought. Perhaps it is my presently compromised imagination but this taxi driver is beginning to look strangely yet wonderfully familiar…….
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