yesterday, day off

It ended like many, passing out in bed, the spoon from the ice cream still in my hand. A few minutes earlier, riding home from House of Regrets (but, no regrets last night, 3 "repeat offenders" got my attention for a while each, one with the door open!) I did my usual, stopping off at Key Food and grabbing some junk food. But late afternoon was the best time. I managed to get out of the house later than I had wanted, but still did a few errands, then headed across the Williamsburg Bridge for a nice bike ride.

Last week I had to go to Williamsburg on an errand, and while pressed for time, I thought I should try the bridge on my bike rather than the subway. Once I climbed the second set of stairs, carrying the bike, then riding uphill, in effect, I was starting to regret my decision. Panting like a dog, sweating, and I hadn't even seen the East River yet! But once I really got going, those endochrins or whatever that make you happy, got going, and the views, the breeze, the other bikers, all made my smile widen, and I was soon glad I took the bike. I dropped off the stuff I needed to, then headed towards the river, where it's fairly industrial, and had some time to snap some pics. Nothing fantastic, just those quirky "view of Manhattan thru industrial buildings on the other side of the East River" shots that everyone seems to get. But I also found a small little onshore park, and I hope those snaps come out, as I managed to get a few quirky "view of Manhattan thru shoreline of rocks from other side of East River" shots. Then I skidaddled back home, much faster than I could've planned, and had my sexdate with the "involved" guy, making a note to get back to Williamsburg with the camera again.

So yesterday was fantastic, as I had nothing planned for over 24 hours, so it didn't matter how much time I took, if I got lost, whatever. Tried one or two quirky "shots of Empire State Bldg thru Williamsburg Bridge masses of steel and fencing", and when I got to Long Island, skipped the funky with a capital F part, and headed straight for the industrial warehouse section along the shore, darting in and out of dead end streets, to see what sorts of views I could see, and sometimes capture. Was very relaxing, riding in what is really sort of a generic part of town, in the sense that it's common in many cities to have that part of the riverfront that's dedicated to warehouses and industrial use, with a few scattered tiny cute homes. Actually made me think of being a kid several decades ago, going with Dad to a building site to take measurements. Cars zooming past me like they're on a highway, seeing the occasional shirtless jogger or fellow bicyclist. I found the little park again (Grand St or Ave?), but it had too many people, so I rode north, occasionally spying other people with cameras, but trying to find the spots where no one else was. "Hey you, scram!" - I hadn't had someone yell that at me in awhile, but I guess he was locking up some gates, and I was on the wrong side. I smiled and said sorry as I passed him, he continued to scowl, my grin widened. (Just dropped of my film at K-Mart; I haven't shot a whole roll of film in one day on a very long time, and now have to wait til Sunday to get the pics and CD back). On my way back, stopped off at the little park, less people, but a good mix. Trendy guy sitting on rock playing with an electronic music-looking contraption; several Hasidic families, small kids running around ignoring their parents shouts; a man practicing some sort of horn. I took my place among them, climbed down the rocks, sat, took some more pictures. Late afternoon sun, cool breeze, very calming and restful, I eventually settled in on a bench and let the warm sun envelop me, the wind playing with my chesthairs, and silently congratulated myself for making a good day.