You Can Do So Much With A Summer's Day

     You must take advantage of spare time during each season.  While my neighbors snoozed, I awoke on a summer morning, intending to fully savor the day!  Reflecting through the open window, a beautiful prism of color shone on my bedroom floor, and I took that as a good sign for the day!

     I started by taking the subway (3 stops) to a coffee shop that offers sidewalk seating.  The French call it being a boulevardier to walk around and admire what's happening around you.  That's me.  

     Gardens were bright with blooms, and I enjoyed their colors.

     In fact, the coffee shop, 60 Beans (named after the quantity of coffee beans that Beethoven preferred per cup), is on Ditmars Boulevard.  How appropriate for a boulevardier!
     I sat outside and sipped a properly-pulled iced latte, admiring the building's iron scrollwork and the pedestrian traffic.  I also read my latest book.  

     Finished, I deposited my glass in their receptacle, bade goodbye to the shapely barista, and took the subway to Manhattan's Union Square Farmer's Market.  

It was the peak time for heirloom tomato season!  

It was also peak time for sweetly aromatic peaches!

That means PEACH PIE!

     Early in the day, a person can avoid crowds and have a greater selection to choose from.  "Early bird gets the worm".  

     Carrying my bags, I passed through Union Square Park.  I was glad to see fewer homeless beggars, fewer drug dealers, and more cleanliness.  

Read about its usual problems here:

https://www.city-journal.org/washington-square-park-drug-market

     Augmenting my bags with a trip to the Trader Joe's Wine Shop, I returned home.  I was grateful that the subway was not delayed, so I only waited in the hot subterranean station for 10 minutes.  

     Lewis was back from the gym; he was cleaning my apartment.  I made myself useful in another way.  Using a bunch of lemongrass, I brewed tea (adding some citrus peel).  Letting it cool on my windowsill, I poured into smaller containers and refrigerated it to make iced tea.

As a refreshing noontime snack, I blended some banana, coconut, blueberry smoothies!

     Lewis and I decided to take a stroll to the local park.  We saw newly-planted trees along the sidewalk!  NYC hung tags on them.  It was a cute way for residents to discover their new trees.

     Studying a pea-shoot vine, Lewis pondered how it "knew" to feel things and wrap around them, for support?  Good question.  The universe is a vast place full of unknowns, and it reminded us that Nature is wonderful.

     Arriving in the park, we stumbled upon a dance rehearsal! Amongst the shady trees, we admired their agility.

We circled the other beauty within the perimeter:

Then, we sauntered home and enjoyed a nap.

     On our social calendar, we were due at Lewis' coworker's home for her apartment building's "community BBQ".  She lives in Long Island City, within Avalon Tower overlooking the East River and city skyline.  Her husband is a globe-trotting DJ.  The sun was descending, as we arrived.  

Her husband was grouped with several DJs, providing entertainment.

The food was "finger-licking good"... especially the Japanese whiskey!

     As the party wound down--and the DJs charted their next destinations--we returned home.  Daylight lingers longest in summer, so I suggested that we visit our own viewpoint along the East River to admire the colorful sunset.  We were glad that we did.  Other Astorians gathered, picnicked, and anchored their boats... while we all peacefully enjoyed the spectacle. 

     It was a wonderful finish to a sublime day.  I'm grateful that I soaked it up, from morning to sundown.  In fact, we returned to the same place, the following night, to savor another beautiful summer sunset--this time enjoying the fireflies that flashed over the lawn.