From Tak to New York, pt. 2

 Mallard in Central Park

After driving into Manhattan, finding parking at the Metropolitan Art Museum, walking across Central Park, and waiting in a long line for a while, we entered the huge Museum of Natural History.
I feel like I should have italicized the name of the place, because it's a work of art.
Granted, I think it might have been way cooler to be there by myself, perhaps at night, and maybe if all of the exhibits came to life...

Just kidding. I would have been scared spitless. That place is huge. There's a ton of stuff in there. We spend a few hours and only just hurried through a tiny bit of it. It was incredible.

Of course, there were also literally tons and tons of people in there. The building has exhibits on four floors, with a few giant halls and rooms on each floor, and you couldn't go anywhere in a straight line. You were always dodging, ducking, pushing past, and looking around people. I heard Castillian Spanish, German, Australian and British English, Chinese, Danish, and many others I didn't recognize. Lots of puffer coats, tall boots, big scarves, long hair, leggings and cell phones. It was crazy. Kids everywhere, couples everywhere, tall people, short people; they're all milling around, all taking pictures, some talking loudly and some quietly enduring.

 As for me...
I'm kind of an extroverted person, but under certain circumstances (which are yet mysteriously indeterminate to me), I do not enjoy being around a lot of people. Upon realizing that I was coming to New York City for Christmas/New Year's, I was gripped with a visceral sense of dread. You know what I mean; it's that freeze that spreads outwards in a thin horizontal layer from the middle of your chest and radiates around and up to tighten your throat.

New York City? That crazy place that's so full of people you can't even move? What if I freak out? 
What if something terrible happens? I'm ok with never going there in my life.

The day that we drove into Staten Island, I was all nervous, feeling like I was responsible for each of my family members' safety. I have a fault of always anticipating something terrible happening, and trying to determine a response in advance. That way, it won't be my fault if somebody gets hurt or lost, and I can't be blamed for not using my head. Usually though, I get lost imagining fantastical scenarios. This of course majorly detracts from my quality of life, and renders me a very internally stressed individual. Thankfully, God has always taken good care of me, and I am learning to trust Him with my life experiences. (and to muzzle my intense imagination)
Going to New York City was a good opportunity to practice trust in God.
The night before we went in I read in Job 12.

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;
and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee:
and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
 Who knoweth not in all these
that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?
 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
and the breath of all mankind.

(vs. 7 -10)

Driving through Newark, New Jersey, I thought about these verses.

Ask the earth, and it will teach you. 

Sparrows flew over the car and lit in the median between the highways, picking for food.

Not one falls to the ground without your Father...aren't you worth more than ten sparrows? 

Reaching Staten Island and boarding the ferry for Manhattan with thousands of other people, I remembered.

All of these lives are in the hand of God.

Being in NYC made me think a lot about God. I talked with Him about some of the people I saw, while taking photos of buildings and other attractions. 

Basically, I relaxed and experienced the city. 

The first day, we rode the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty, and docked at Manhattan. Then we met a friend of my dad's and walked several blocks down Broadway, through the Wall Street area and over to the new World Trade Center. Then we found China Town and ate real Chinese food (!) in a skinny little restaurant. Next, we rode the subways over to the High Line, which is an old, high rail road that has been converted to a walkway with sculptures, plants and interesting things. After walking the High Line for a while, we skipped over to Times Square (a totally crazy place), and Sophie and I persuaded the rest of them to leave us in H and M for half an hour. That was also a totally crazy place. There were lots of people in there, and they also had (what I assume was) a DJ on the second floor who had the music cranked up so loud that it seemed like there were demons whispering in your ears. He must have had, anyway; he was sweating profusely and moving like he was a little possessed. I was very ready to move on to the relatively quite streets. 

That day, we finished by seeing the windows at Macy's and then walking through the store (which is the biggest store in the world). I was also not very impressed with it.

When you've grown up in the country, breathing fresh air, walking barefooted, looking up at the trees and the stars, listening to the wind, and tasting freedom it's hard to be impressed with tinsel and flashing lights.

i also just came from a place where I experienced the pure joy of laughing with a five year old who has never walked before, so I had a hard time watching unhappy people numbing themselves with shopping. 

I feel way more sorry for the rich, beautiful people living in the city than I do for the ugly poor people living in shacks in the country.

 But each is ignorant and vulgar in their own way. 

Towers across the pond

A sanctuary in the midst of temples

Teddy Roosevelt apparently needed a couple of Native Americans to spot him on either side when he rode anywhere. Either that, or his horse had bad balance.

Despite Mr. Roosevelt's weakness in riding skills, he had great writing skills. I really liked these two quotes from him, although I missed the punctuation.

 Oh! It's past midnight on New Year's Eve! Happy New Years!

Here's another inspiring quote. Kind of makes me want to be a man. : ) I know women can be amazing in their own way, though.

The dinos in the front lobby were getting a little fractious

As were many of the people crowed in there

From the main hall with the fighting dinosaurs, I went straight down the hall to the left (because I tend to go in left directions), and found a bunch of stuffed Asian animals. The photos aren't great because the lighting was weird, but the animals were very well mounted.

I could be wrong, but I feel like tigers don't usually hang out in groups...

I liked the antlers on that guy

I wonder who won this battle?

So I walked past a lot more stuff that I didn't take pictures of with my camera. I only took pictures with my mind.

Here's the most interesting thing to me in the whole Pacific Asian People exhibit. This is in the Philippines exhibit, and it's of a weaving loom and fabrics made on it. I thought it was cool because I have used a loom like that before. 

Here's the evidence! Hannah Steck there set my loom up, but I did some weaving on it.

Anyway, here's a big guy from the hall of dinosaurs. I used to be crazy about dinosaurs when I was little. I could tell you the names of all of them, what they ate, how big they were, and anything else you wanted to know. Now, they're not quite as interesting to me.

Here's a Christmas tree covered in origami sculptures.

The rocks and minerals exhibits were pretty well done, too. Here are some Opal specimens. I also used to be crazy about gems and rocks, and could tell you anything about them...but alas...I went to school...and lost everything I had learned.

I think I would like my house in heaven to be small and made of these gems.

The camera cannot possible describe what these gems look like. You have to be able to experience them with your eyes in real life.

It's hard to comprehend the splendor of color in these little guys

There's old Teddy again, right where I left him. I expect he'll be there awhile yet.

These aren't just Guitar lessons being offered. These are Awesome Guitar Lessons. Take note.

It's a shifted world out there

On the way back across the part from the Museum of Natural History, my family left me behind while I took pictures of the sunset.

Then I found Sophie, who wanted a picture with the three little bears. AHA!!! I just got it! She's Goldilocks! wow... that took me a while.

Here's the sunrise this morning, as seen from the house we stayed in on the Hudson River, in Upstate New York.

Here's the house. It's old, and kind of creepy, but we enjoyed staying there several nights.

It was worth all the shivers it took to stand out there and take the picture.

For those of you who like to steal other people's pictures, and care about where the horizon is in the shot, I give you "The High Horizon"

And "The Middle Horizon"

And "The Landscape Shot with a High Horizon"

Raphy was busy playing an internet game

Then we all took a nice, squinny-eyed picture. (I know it's really spelled "squinty" but in the Southern states you say "squinny")

There's a nice driving-away view of the house where we stayed

Here's the apartment building on Southern Boulevard in the South Bronx where my dad grew up.

And there's his Elementary school, directly across the street. He used to play stick ball and other games right there in the school yard.