I will remember this sight fondly

Well it is 3:05 on Friday, lovely day. I dare say a perfect day. My power came on at the nice time of 8:00 am, my fan turned on, and I was asleep and it seemed like nothing had happened. I think I was extra tired from the the 4 hours of walking yesterday, 116th st and Broadway starting at 6 PM down to First Ave at my sister's at 8. Two hours from one corner of Manhattan to another, I thought it was good timing. I even stopped in central park for a bit of a rest in the grass and to watch one of those human statues, they really are pretty neat when there is no power. Then through Times Square, without any signage. "Yes" I thought, finally - Times Sq. as I always wanted it. I walked right in the middle of the street with a Pepsi and a straw, foreigners and business people around me, and the cast of MTV out in a crowd full of sweaty teens. Then into 34 st street and out at the base of the Empire State Building. Hello mister Empire State Building, where are all your lights? Then down fifth ave to Madison Park, around the Flat Iron onto Union Sq. and over to the Gramercy down onto 14th st., 1:45 of walking and I could taste the east village... down second ave to 10th st. and over to first ave and then the home stretch. It was almost sundown by 8.

I rested a bit at my sister's, she gave me a beer and I met up with ann, who had been doing a day shift at Gigi's. Then unto the darkness we went, down Allen and into Chinatown. Kind of smelly and very, very crowded. We got on a bus, but it was more of a rest stop then any progress. So we got off, and realized the next project was "the Brooklyn Bridge" it was about 9:45 and we walked past City Hall, emergency light blazing, and then at the mouth of the bridge everyone seemed to converge... the bridge was for pedestrians. We walked over the bridge, looking at the red moon and the dark city behind us. After bridge hit downtown brooklyn. Lots of fat Brooklynites needing strange buses to get to their whereabouts. Hit Jay St. and got a Arizona Grapeade, it was about 10:30 and it was dark. The last phase of the walk home was easy, from Jay St. to Smith and then up smith and down to Nelson... I've done that before. Got home around 11:15, and had some ice water and an ice cold shower and went to sleep.
The power came on, and now I am back to Friday. Not a problem. I would do it again, power outages should be a summer ritual in the city.

It is funny, but the power went out at 4:14 (or something equivalent) and I was in the middle of a job interview for at the Columbia Oral History Research Office. This being the biggest blackout in america's history, and so ripe of an event for Oral Historicizing. I really hope I get the job.

  ¶ 3:24 PM