Living in the Cit-ay

Well, I'm (a little) sorry to brag, but I had an amazing Fourth of July Weekend. It included basically everything I'd hoped for:

• Good friends
• Grilling outside
• Grilling vegetarian food outside
• Roasting marshmallows
• Beach (both lying on the sand AND going in the water)
• Ice cream (both from an old-fashioned, family-run ice cream parlour AND from a Mr. Softee truck)
• Fireworks
• Grass
• Patios
• 'Merican music (CCR, Sly and the Family Stone, the Beatles (OK that last one may not truly be so patriotic))

And now I'm back in the city after more than 60 hours in the "country," and let me tell you, I didn't want to come back. I still haven't planned the lesson for my 9am class tomorrow, and that's saying something.

BUT this afternoon, I was reading Nora Ephron's essay about living in her NYC apartment, the Apthorp, and as dissimilar as our experiences of living in the city have been (she essentially lived in a gated community in the Upper West Side), I really connected with her description of finding a community in whichever part of the city she ended up living in. Ari and I have lived in our little apartment here in Brooklyn for almost two years (the longest I've lived anywhere in this city!), and it definitely feels comfortable to me. I'll admit that I don't know most of my neighbors' names, but I recognize the same cashiers at the grocery store, and I see the same people walking their dogs around Prospect Park when I go jogging there. We will probably not be living in this city for much longer (1 - 2 years more at most?), but I really, really love it some days -- especially in the summer. Especially when I look at it with fresh eyes after enjoying a weekend away.

*Also -- YAY U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM!! I'm sad Japan didn't play a little better though; better luck next time Japan!