On the way to work I saw …

I can now find my way to work without hesitating on the corner and wondering which way to go, or forgetting which subway exit is the one that gets us out on the right corner so that we don’t have to cross the street.

Off we go along our block, past some toy dogs and their owners from our apartment building out for an early morning pee, past the garden where we’ve seen the tulips grow an inch or so every day from a little tip in the soil to a fully fledged yellow tulip garden, under the construction site where the footpath is totally boarded up (and painted orange) and down into the subway. Don’t use the right-hand turnstile as it’s a bit sluggish with the cards, not me, I’m beyond the tourist too-slow/too-fast swipe and out onto the platform. God I love the smell and rush of the trains. If we’re lucky we’ll have timed it right to be waiting when 2 express trains roar through the middle tracks and if really lucky ours will scream onto the platform at the same time. I love getting lost in the sound – voice and thoughts completely lost for a moment as my head is filled with clanging, whooshing, squealing metal (OK, better stop now, making me sound like a petrol head …). Push and shove onto the train and if there’s a seat, I’ll perch on the edge so that me and my laptop don’t squash my sandwich and apple – 14th Street the train really empties out and I know where to stand in preparation for the doors opening on the other side of the train for that station only on our journey. Then out at the other end – keep right with the crowd pushing up the steps and it’s a real art to take part in the almost choreographed explosion of colour going up the steps if it’s raining as everyone pops their umbrellas one after another on the packed subway stairs. Along Canal Street weaving through the store owners unloading sparkly wares to cram into their stalls, around the corner dodging the lady who catches your eye and mutters in hushed tones “Fendi bag. Gucci Prada Fendi”, past the 2 abandoned bike frames locked to a sign post and across Broadway stepping over the pothole that is getting bigger and bigger everyday. And just when I can’t be bothered carrying my laptop and lunch on my back any longer it’s up the stairs and into the office.