NYC Markets revisited, episode 1. In which I am Mother Nature's fool.

There is a universally valuable lesson to be learned throughout John Steinbeck's classic novella, Of Mice and Men, and that is one of the reasons I enjoyed sharing it with students year after year when I was a classroom teacher.  Aside from its brevity and beautifully minimalist writing (without a compulsive need for parenthetical asides), and the powerfully poignant friendship between disillusioned men in search of the elusive American dream, that final chapter sure packs a dramatic wallop.  Before digging into George and Lennie's tale, we'd prepare by looking at Robert Burns' poem (from which the title is derived) and sharing examples of our own personal plans that didn't quite get off the ground or that simply crashed and burned.

Our latest Spring Break plans would have been a perfect example to share with my students, especially since, as you may have heard, I'm a planner.  I plan trips months, even years, in advance.  I like to purchase plane tickets and select seats six months in advance so I can choose the most direct routes at the best times and travel in the most comfortable manner possible (budget willing, of course).  Over the years and miles there have been last-minute changes, as any traveler knows, that are out of my personal control. That's where travel gets difficult for me.

"Out of my control" is not something I like to hear or experience (or even type), but s--- happens.  That would be snow, of course.  The date of my latest best laid schemes?  The day I had prepared for and planned for months and months in advance?  Well, Winter Storm Stella had other plans for March 14, 2017. Sometimes I just need a gentle reminder that you can't outwit, outlast, or outplay Mother Nature.  That might be why I stopped watching Survivor after a few seasons.

By the way, I always picture Dena Dietrich from the 1970s Chiffon margarine commercials when I think of Mother Nature, don't you?

Maybe it is my age--no longer "gulp, fifty" but just "fifty" now--but I have kind of learned to go with the flow. Sometimes, there really is nothing you can do no matter how well you have prepared in advance.

Mari managed to snap that photo of me with the aptly-named Patience the lion after we finally arrived in my favorite city 48 hours later than obsessively planned.

I look pretty calm considering we missed our performance of Hamilton.

Mari and I learned an important lesson during one of our first visits to NYC together back in 2005.  NEVER buy theater tickets for the day of arrival.  That lesson involved a combination of flight delays (neither Dena Dietrich nor margarine were involved) that had us rushing into the Longacre Theatre just as the lights dimmed to see a glorious Kathleen Turner begin laying into her beleaguered husband (Bill Irwin, Tony winner for this role) in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.  One of my favorite theater experiences almost didn't happen because I tried to squeeze one more show into our weekend, thinking that eight hours would be plenty of time to get us from LaGuardia to the City.

This time it was Hamilton.  The tickets I purchased ten months in advance for the carefully-selected day after our scheduled arrival were waiting for me at the box office.  Stella had other plans and cancelled flight after cancelled flight landed us in New York on Thursday afternoon, the day after Wednesday night's performance.  Thankfully, a good Samaritan and former student of Mari's who is living and working in the City was able to repurpose our tickets, but it will be another while before we have a chance to enjoy

Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical history lesson.

Another travel lesson learned and confirmed, we were finally safely entrenched in the exuberantly wintry-wet streets of a favorite city, favorite fleamarkets still on the weekend horizon.  We take a frosty dip into weekend fleas and I share what has become another beloved (library-themed!) favorite next time.

nypl.org

In the meantime, be sure to check the New York Public Library's thoroughly informative and beautifully laid out site.  Scroll down to the bottom and click on the "Plan Your Visit" link before you hit the city sidewalks (snowy or otherwise) yourself.