Road Trip Out of the City

 

My husband rented a car and we had an invitation to use his friend's summer house in South Hampton! It took us about two hours to drive. I'll post more tomorrow.

Visiting a Buddhist Ceremony

We were invited to a Sunday morning Buddhist ceremony by a young man we have met many times at our favorite restaurant. If he'd only invited us once, we would have nodded and said we may just do that sometime. But Ryan would text us three Saturday nights in a row after his initial invitation. So we went. (-:

The Soka Gakkai International or SGI (Community) Center is located in Forest Hills, NY, in Queens--a 20 minute subway ride east of Manhattan. Our friend was waiting on the steps to take us in. As we entered, people were chanting rhythmically in a monotone that you could almost tap your feet to. In fact I ended up tapping my feet as it continued for 20 minutes. 

Next there was a sharing from a young woman who attributed her chanting practice to many good things in her life, one being her efforts to increase lawyers in her firm doing pro bono work. There was a lot of clapping and laughter during her talk. (I like it when there is laughter in any religious setting.) Ryan leaned over and told me this was his favorite part of the service.

After that, a group of women sang a lively song called "When Love Takes Over" accompanied by four female dancers. This could have been placed into any Christian service. There was a speaker then a video was shown of their Sensei in Japan about the importance of appreciating workers "behind the scenes".

Overall, it was an interesting experience. If you want to hear how the chanting sounded, I found a good example on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNbU2-9YcGI.

Morning drawing

It's easier to draw cups and notebooks than skyscrapers.

Petting Zoo in Central Park

 

You don't need to buy a ticket to the Central Park Zoo to see some of the animals. Just peer over the fence along 6th Avenue.

 

My son's new dog, named Zayne, is part pit bull. She's the most gentle of creatures! She lives with his owners in Columbus, Ohio. She is fond of picking up my daughter-in-law's 6 in. heels and walking around with them in her mouth just to get attention. She has never chewed on them--just trots around and shows off what she's found. I love this dog.

Subway Culture

There is a lot of art in the subway tiles. Who would have expected that? Do we still put the extra effort and money into public expenditures to add a little artistic flair? I don't think so. Everybody complains about spending too much public money, but public art is important. Think of the many people this whimsical piece touched.

 

A piano student plays for the public in Washington Square Park. I took a video, but I can't get it uploaded. Grrrr. I think he was playing Shubert. My mother would know. She knows her classical music like no one else.