A Hearty Walk

I took a break from blogging yesterday. I enjoy blogging. It's cathartic for me. The main reason I write is for myself. It is my journey and my way of documenting that journey is writing and posting pictures. If I relied solely on my memory to reflect on this time in New York I would recall very few things. That's how bad my memory is. Now I have it documented in writing, with pictures to boot. If no one read my blog I would still continue to write. The feedback I have received has been very supportive. So I will continue it. Sometimes I may skip a day or two but I'm in it for the long haul.

Yesterday we took a walk to the Chelsea district. I went into the Chelsea Market and bought some grouper for dinner. There is a fish store there that has every imaginable seafood fare one could want. Jim waited for me in a little park a block from the Market. For dinner I made grouper, quinoa and homemade apricot and pecan oatmeal cookies. Not bad for limited space in a little kitchen.

Today Jim had blood work and met with Shani, the NP. Luckily he did not have to stay for IV fluids. He wanted to try walking back to the Hope Lodge so we took our time and headed out. I had packed lunch since I thought we would be at the hospital most of the day but instead we found a little park overlooking the East River in-between a cluster of very nice apartment buildings. We sat on a bench eating our lunch and watching all the little dogs pass by and the moms/nannies pushing baby strollers. The pigeons got a little annoying as they crept around the bench hoping that a crumb would fall to the ground.

After our picnic in the park we continued our walk, passing Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Cathedral has been on our bucket list of places to visit. We opened a side door and entered the Cathedral. A mass was being held so we were able to sit down for awhile and listen. The church is enormous. Pictures on my smartphone couldn't capture the beauty.

The last leg of our trip was pretty bad. You can only access the Hope Lodge by walking through Times Square and surrounding areas which are really crowded and dirty. Jim had his mask and gloves on and I found myself covering my nose and mouth with my sweater. I have always been a germophobe, but even more so now that I have good reason to be. We made it back safely and logged 4.0 miles for the day. This will be our last trip walking through Times Square. Next time we will take a cab to Central Park and stay in the wide open spaces.