Fleeing the Big City

Refugee Status

Culture Shock

The best laid plans of mice and men

Some of have asked “when’s the next blog”. Explanation is in order.

Several Weeks ago i published on this blog links to the New York State information on the c-19 virus (that’s what i’m calling it as i don’t want to keep typing the whole damn thing and you all know what it is). My life and my daily routine has changed considerably. Our Governor, Andrew Cuomo, in a daily press conference this past week stated “New York will Lead the way.” As i look back three weeks to the ‘curious’ article i blogged from NYS department of health at the time I realize that New York has been leading the way. For this I am grateful and proud.

I am at risk from c-19. My best friends, doctors and sister, apparently, conspired together and got me to leave NYC – where i’ve lived for 44 years. I’m now in suburban/rural New Jersey at my sisters house until this whole thing blows over. It’s a bit of culture shock. It’s a big house where Velcro and Winston and I essentially have our own wing. There are 4 cats and 3 dogs here too. The other night at 4am, there was a fox, and i’ve been warned there are bears roaming about as well. I’m learning to speak dog, though Velcro and Winston remain unimpressed.

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Along with the rest of the world IKnowTheCow is going to take a detour of unknown type and duration. There is a great kitchen in this house, the likes of which i’ve never had the pleasure of using before. All 4 of us can cook complex dishes at the same time and still maintain social distancing. And there are 3 great cooks, myself excluded, in this house. With sheltering at home there’s not much else to do and we’re cooking up a storm. In the 39th street apartment i just left there wasn’t enough room for me to put down the cat food and have the cats in the kitchen at the same time. They had to wait until i left before there was room for them to approach their dish.

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There is a big back yard, with a pool, and gas grill and even a local squirrel that i’m looking at with a new interest as i’ve never even considered squirrels worthy of my attention before. i blame Janie for that.

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I was living in a studio on 39th street for the past few weeks. It was on-route to a hospital so there was a constant stream of ambulances, sirens blaring hauling ass down the street. Garbage trucks are hugely noisy as were the constant string of Times Square tourists. When you looked up you’d see the lights of the Times Square skyscrapers and Empire Statebuilding sparkling in the night sky. There were always crowds of people. The apartment was quiet as a tomb. Yes, 3 short blocks from Times Square and i never felt so isolated in my life.

So I flee the city and arrive here well after dark. There’s are no street lights for miles – It is dark. Country dark. I pull up the driveway – yes there’s a driveway. For over 20 years I’ve been riding my bicycle to the 1000 car garage when i need to drive somewhere. Now the car is in the driveway. What a concept!

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I get out of the car and I am assaulted by noise! Loud noise! This is the kind of noise that can cause hearing cancer! Where are the ambulance sirens? The garbage trucks? The rowdy tourists? Nope, this noise is crickets! Loud crickets. And my brother tells me that when the frogs come out later in the season – well it will be like being with butterblogger in Hilo Hawaii.

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So I look up and there are bright lights everwhere, not the Empire State Building, not Skyscrapers under construction with work lights lit, not Times Square, but to quote a great author, Arthur C. Clark in 2001 A Space Oddysey: “My God — It’s full of stars!”