The Gates

Every now and then you feel pretty lucky to get an opportunity to witness a once in a lifetime event or experience. Last one I can remember was maybe a solar eclipse or the Hale Bopp Comet. Those things don't happen every day and if you prefer to stay inside sitting on the couch you will have missed them forever. Same thing goes for Christos Central Park Gates Project. This has been in the works since I was ten years old! (That's 1979, btw.) For twenty-six years they tried to get this thing going and finally in February 2005 it has been allowed by New York City to exist for only sixteen days. H and I are lucky to live within reach of this work of art and this is where we chose to wander today. Hurry up and come out to see the Gates because before you know it they will be gone forever and you'll sooner see another solar eclipse! It's probably worth mentioning that the "9" train we were on had to skip the 18th street station because of an ongoing police investigation of a MURDER on the platform. As the train drove by we saw all the detectives doing their thing. Gory details left out on this tragic story. Following the train incident we walked east to Second Ave. and 7th Street for lunch at a placed featured on Food TV's "Follow That Food" called Pommes Frites. Just go there! OMG! Also on Second Ave, at 4th Street, is an English style fish and chips place called A Salt and Battery. We'll have to check this out, too. After lunch we dropped in on the Apple store downtown to buy the dreaded iPod. Fortunately the line was too long and we had to bail out on making the very expensive purchase. The victory over the impulse to buy was short lived; roughly six hours later I succumbed to the pressure and we have now joined the 21st century.