New York - Day 1

Pin It The plane touched down at John Kennedy Airport somewhere in the wee hours before the sun split the skies to officially begin a new day. Outside the large, plate-glass windows, darkness still reigned supreme.

I walked groggily through the terminal with my laptop bag and camera. My legs beneath me felt like jelly after not being used for so many hours, and I was exhausted from the few brief sojourns into slumber as the plane had flown through the night skies. At one point in the journey I’d even asked for a vomit bag—the bouts of turbulence, coupled with the fact that I was wearing several layers of clothing in order to save space in my small suitcase, seemed to not agree with whatever it was that I’d had for dinner earlier that night.

Yeah, I felt sick.

I retrieved my luggage and made my way to the airtrain. The breath of cool, early-morning air was welcomed as I watched the sky slowly change to a shade of darkest indigo on the skyline. With somewhat blurry eyes I exited the airtrain and bought a ticket on the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) bound for Queens and barely caught it. The skies outside my windows continued to change—softening to tint the clouds overhead with pinks and peaches—as I exited at Woodside Station and began the walk toward my brother’s flat.

Gangs of leaves huddled together in the gutters and along the curbs as I walked...dried and crispy although plenty of the trees around me were still arrayed in their autumn splendor. The skies reflected a melancholy feeling with the ripple of clouds overhead, spread like a layer of peanut butter on an extra-thick slice of bread...just the way I liked it.

Within minutes I arrived at the building and texted my brother.

He buzzed me into the building and within a minute or two I entered their flat, greeted with a barrage of hugs.

We all talked for an hour or two over a breakfast of cereal as the sky continued to brighten. We laughed, reminisced, and made haphazard plans for the next few days as the sun arose and the day officially began…

and then I went to sleep.

This view is from my brother and sister-in-law’s apartment. If you look off on the left top side, you can see the Empire State Building…which is lit up various colors every night.