I am now employed with Columbia University....albeit as a very part time employee but all the same, I have an official childpsych Columbia email address and have all the hire paperwork in. I expect to be getting my ID badge soon. It's kind of exciting for me to have an active university affiliation again. It's rather grounding and so familiar since I've been part of a university setting since 1975 when I started as an undergraduate and then just never really left that setting, just went thru the paces of student, trainee, post-doc, faculty. We will see where this very part time position takes me.....
We also filed our NY state taxes which only furthers the deepening of our roots here.
It's funny how quickly I habituate to certain routines and places. I planned a big grocery run for Tuesday at our tiny but jam packed natural foods market, The Westerly, which is about 3/4 of mile from our apartment. I was all prepared with my granny cart, bags, etc only to find when I got there it they were CLOSED--quite unexpectedly. They had some emergency wiring or electrical or plumbing problem they were attending to. It was quite an upset for me as well as several others who were longingly looking into the store between the metal mesh barrier pulled down over the windows and doors. There are so many people who shop in that tiny but well stocked store that it felt like a grief and loss support group as we all stood outside the door hoping for any good news about the store opening soon. No such luck and now their website says they are closed for renovations with no indication of when they are going to re-open. It took me a while to regroup to make the trip to Whole Foods the next day which is about a mile away--at Columbus Circle, considered the upper west side which caters to a higher level of socio-economic status than mid-town shoppers and tourists. Shopping at WF is just a whole other experience...and not of the enjoyable kind I must say. It's super crowded, and even though Westerly is always crowded because it's a tiny place, WF is really big and still really crowded. People shopping there are also not very friendly in dealing with the crowdedness. At least at Westerly, there seems to be a more shared positive mentality about shopping there and managing the crowded aisles. Not so much at WF. I must have walked around that place at least 3 or 4 times and never did find the bulk grain section, maybe they don't have one there. They don't have that much organic produce there either, at least not as much as one would think they should. It wound up costing $13 just to get the groceries delivered as it was too much to take in the granny cart. All in all an expensive and not very enjoyable shopping substitute. I am hoping that Westerly re-opens very soon and am already all nostalgic about it's absence!
I also went to my first Clinton Community Garden meeting....this is garden that is gated in the neighborhood. It's semi-private in that you need someone to let you in if you don't have a key, their choice to do so or not. It costs $10 to get a key and join, which we did. Aside from the big open front garden space with trees, flower beds, beehives, a gazebo, benches and paths, they have 108 garden plots in the back half that take years for any one of them to come up for new ownership. They call them plots here whereas we call them P-patches in Seattle. I went to the meeting asking people about their P-patches and they all looked at me like I was crazy until we figured out the shared vocabulary. The meeting was crazy with AFFECT....who would have thought community gardening could be so emotional. WOW.....lots of disagreement with the required work hours that must be signed off by a committee.......which apparently rubs lots of people the wrong way....and on the other side, lots of tears and hugs when the annual award was given to the person who volunteers in the garden the most! The coolest thing I found out was that down the street on 43rd between 9th and 10th is the Manhattan Plaza apartments which for the last 30 or 40 years is subsidized housing for those in the actors union. So there are lots of actors/performers just living down the street from us. Most are in the lower levels of the business but all the same, they are long time dedicated to their craft and several were there at the meeting the other night. I joined the CCG as a way to meet people and when not all riled up about their issues, they were actually a very friendly and interesting group of people. There are a number of community events that happen at the garden and I am looking forward to attending these to get to know these people better.
We have a busy weekend coming up.........Friday night we are trying a new vegan restaurant in the Chelsea neighborhood, Blossom, with friends. Saturday we will volunteer in the afternoon and evening at Mother's Kitchen (an Amma related free meal program) at Ascension Church in the Morningside neighborhood and then attend an all day retreat on Sunday with one of Amma's chief brahmacharis, Dayamrita Chaitanya. We are looking forward to all these events.
Life goes on................
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