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NYC didn’t truly feel like home until this weekend. It took a few days in a different city before I identified my own city as home.

Which leads me to this thought: Can we only really comprehend something in relation to something else? Of course, that’s paradoxical — if it takes a different thing to understand the original, you can’t understand the different thing without comparing that to yet another different thing, and on and on. But I digress.

I’ve caught myself using comparisons a bunch lately to judge, explain, cope even. I often tell people I love riding the subway, even though some people find it unsavory. At least I don’t have to commute during rush hour, I say. Yet last week I found myself going from uptown to downtown during rush hour, and it was a completely different, less pleasant experience (duh). When people warn me about NYC summers, I say at least I don’t have to deal with a climate as hot and humid as D.C. Yet there I was this weekend walking around Washington in 90+ heat with high humidity, completely miserable. Or my ever-increasing anxiety over flying “solo” from JFK to LAX next month for the wedding/cruise — at least I’m not flying in one of THESE things (a small pod-like one-seater with paper-airplane-like wings), as I said to myself at the air and space museum today. They may not fly me to LA in a pod, but maybe the turbulence will be so bad that I’ll feel like I’m in one.

What do we do when we use comparisons to reassure ourselves, then we find ourselves on the bad end of our own statements of relativity? Do we take the comparisons a step further — at least the subway didn’t get stuck/I’m not in New Delhi where it’s 115/the plane didn’t have to divert to another airport — or give up using comparisons altogether, for fear of ending up in a situation that is our worse-case scenario? Notice I said “worse,” not “worst.”

In a world where there are so many options, paths, situations, it’s hard to say something is the best or worst, all we can do is compare it to other things we’ve experienced and can therefore fathom in our own terms.

In conclusion, I may not be the best writer, but I’m certainly better than Curtis.

—

Eyelids drooping down
The slow rocking of the train
The world whizzes past.

Susana and Austin came to stay with us for a few days as they made their way along the East Coast. I realized as I was vacuuming after they left that they were our third set of houseguests in just under a month. I love having the familiar faces and the company, and other folks to get out and see the city with.  But I’m starting to understand why I always feel tired and like the weekends are flying by! Yet another reason why I’m like my mother (gasp!) — I enjoy being accommodating and taking in old friends and family.

Now Curtis and I get our chance to crash at someone else’s place (thanks, Saul!). We’re taking the Amtrak to Washington D.C. tonight to see the sites, drink and hang out with the Miyamotos/Saul/Andrew & Paige for the weekend. It’s supposed to be 90 and humid — the conditions are ripe for a Lydia meltdown, pun intended. I’ll post photos when we get back.

Curtis flew his mom out this weekend for a one-week-belated Mother’s Day gift, and we had a blast. We also got the chance to solidify our tour routes. Pretty soon we’ll have our own map and won’t need to accompany visitors around town at all. Heh.

Here’s a recap of the weekend, along with our increasingly efficient tour of NYC (Note: This is the whirlwind tour, no time to stop and smell the roses – er, garbage – this is merely to cover as much turf as possible for someone who’s never been to the city):

Thursday – Upper East Side, Central Park, Rockefeller, Midtown, Greenwich, West Village, SoHo, TriBeCa, Financial District

F train to 63rd/Lexington.
Crossect Park/Madison/5th avenues on the way to Central Park.
Weave through the southeast corner of Central Park. (Photo.)
Walk 5th Avenue past the Apple store (a Curtis must-see), Bergdorf, Trump Tower, Tiffany, etc.
Cut over to Rockefeller Plaza via 52nd St.
Peek into the ice skating rink – or cafe in the offseason – the NBC studio, GE building lobby, Radio City Music Hall.
Cut over to Broadway, follow it into Times Square. Gawk.

1 train from Times Square to Christopher St.
Walk through Washington Square, around NYU.
Circle back to the West Village for a slice at Joe’s Pizza.
Walk on 6th Avenue down through SoHo, TriBeCa. No shopping allowed.
Skip over to W. Broadway and follow it to Ground Zero.
Take Church St. to Wall St. and the New York Stock Exchange.
Enter Trinity Church and walk through the graveyard, exit on Church and walk back up to Ground Zero.
Walk through the viewing area on Liberty St., over the footbridge and into 1 World Financial Center.
Follow the WFC bridges into the Winter Garden and out by the harbor.
Stroll along the harbor into Battery City Park.
Get on the R train at Whitehall St./South Ferry to go home and nap. (Actually, at this point I went to work and Curtis and Teri went and walked all over Park Slope.)
Cook a pasta dinner from Russo’s at 1am with bread, two cheeses and a bottle of red wine from Long Island.
Sleep heavily.

Friday – Prospect Park, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, Brooklyn Art Museum, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Lower East Side, East Village, Williamsburg

Get fruit/yogurt/granola at Naidre’s for breakfast.
Meander through the south end of Prospect Park, past the lake. (Photo.)
Enter the Botanic Garden (free this month when you show your BofA card), stop briefly to smell the roses, exit at the north end and enter the Brooklyn Museum (also free this month when you show your BofA card). (Photo.)
Do all five floors in just over an hour (shameful, yes).
Take the 3 train to Clark St. in Brooklyn Heights.
Get awesome pastries at Cranberry’s on Henry (?) St.
Walk to the promenade, enjoy the view of the skyline. (Photo.)
Take Montague street through the heart of Brooklyn Heights, stop to try on shoes.
Head north on Clinton St. until it turns into Old Fulton and runs into the water.
Admire the Brooklyn Bridge. (Photo.)
Walk around the corner for a pint at Watersomething I can’t remember and peek into the Jaques Torres chocolate shop.
Stop into Grimaldi’s for a coal-fired pizza. (Photo.)
Walk through DUMBO, under the Manhattan Bridge, stop in at ReBar. (Photo.)

Hop the F train to Delancey.
Get a glimpse of the Lower East side on the way to Houston St.
Make a slight detour over to 1st Ave. and Katz’s Deli.
Head back to Avenue A and take it to St. Mark’s Place across from Tompkins Square Park.
Have a pint or two at Hop Devil, and if you have any room left for food, a Crif Dog a few doors down. (Photo.)

Walk up and catch the L at 14th St. to Bedford in Williamsburg.
Peruse the shops on Bedford, with a detour over to the waterfront for an awesome view of Manhattan from the side. (Photo.)
Stop in at the cheese shop at N. 4th St. and Bedford.
Head to S. 4th St. and Berry for a pint at South 4th.
Take a car to Junior’s (Juniors on Flatbush, not Union and Flatbush).
Buy cheesecake.
Take the R home from DeKalb.

Saturday – Prospect Park, Farmer’s Market, North Slope, Chinatown, Little Italy, NoLita.

Walk through the ballfields in Prospect Park and head north to Grand Army Plaza.
Buy hot apple cider and peruse the yummy food.
Amble down Union St., stopping in cheese shops and markets.
Mother’s Day brunch at Aunt Suzie’s. $15.90 for all-you-can-eat awesomely exquisite food. (Photo.)
Pick up the R at Union and 4th Ave. to Canal St.
Walk up Broadway through Chinatown, buy chatchkes.
Loop back on Mulberry through Little Italy. Cannoli. (Photo.)
Walk up Mulberry to Houston, stopping in little shops and designers’ markets along the way.
Check out the huge new Whole Foods at Houston and 1st Ave.
Get on the F at 2nd Ave and head home for some wine tasting on 7th Ave. in Park Slope.
Off to the airport and naps all around.