The Attic

Hot Date

This is apparently the Old Man's idea of a hot night out on the town. Yes, we spent another lovely evening in the damn ER with another episode of aspiration pneumonia, and while he went to the hospital kicking and screaming, they let him go home because we got there early this time. We hope.

There is not enough Sauvignon Blanc in the world....

The Things You See in NYC

Some of the "best" (read: weirdest, funniest, most disturbing) things we saw in our time in New York were, unfortunately, things I couldn't photograph. Not without risking assault in any event. And we saw some sights, mostly involving clothing, that left us laughing and/or shaking our heads. Seriously? A filmy, strapless"maxi dress" for business attire? I'll keep my mouth shut on some of the full- body tattoos....

But occasionally we found some sights that could be photographed, even from a moving bus!  I love the idea of a mobile cupcake truck!  We never found this guy when we were on foot, though.  (We did walk by a cupcake store (there are such things) that sold teeny tiny beautifully decorated cupcakes.  $2 each, and barely two bites, but that's New York for you.  We stopped once on our way from the bus stop to the medical center....not worth $2.

I caught this shot one day when T was still pretty mobile and the Farmers' Market was set up in Union Square Park.  What gorgeous radishes....right in the middle of the city!

One of my favorite sights, though, was over on the corner of Fifth and W59th as we were waiting for the bus downtown.  Our son and his family were also in NYC that weekend and walked us over from the apartment.  There he was in all his scarlet glory:  ELMO!  Our grandson Gus was a little shy at first, but next thing we knew he was "high fiving" and finally up in Elmo's arms!

Don't see stuff like this in downtown Ridgefield.

L'etranger

Who ARE you and what have you done with my husband?!

Food

The Old Man always had a pretty hefty appetite, to put it mildly, but had a great deal of difficulty swallowing for some time after the tracheotomy surgery. They gave him a Passy-Muir "speaking" valve, which he didn't like and refused to use for many weeks. Once he was persuaded to use it, however, the appetite increased and he was able to eat quite normally until well into the radiation treatments.

We discovered this little place on Lex, between E 61st and E 62, while searching for a button shop I had read about. Pane e Vino, open to the world in front yet air conditioned inside, it became one of our favorite spots.

The treatments caused swelling and irritation, not to mention changes in the tastebuds, so by mid-August, the tube feedings took over. Today, for the first time in almost two months, the Old Man was able to get down some Cream of Wheat! Whoohoo!