Old haunts and rainy days in New York

Four days. And three trips to the ATM. Then it was time to head home ... get a job ... or win the power ball.

We used to live in New York and right over the river in Weekhawken... a little town not only really fun to say but also the closest suburb of Manhattan (even if it is in New Jersey).

Now we go back for short visits, quick trips to do some business, see friends, and get recharged.

Funny how a place so big and not really my own can bring such comfort.

I grew up on the road as an Air Force brat and then in a bedroom suburb of Denver for the really disorienting teenage years.

But I worked in and around New York for 16 years. Perhaps those were the years I really grew up.

Whatever the draw, I love going back to New York.. of course I really mean Manhattan.. to just wander.

We did that last week on a rainy weekend. Food, music, friends. Those were the goals ... and RAIN.

Ok, ok. The perfect moment? Breathing in the dirt-and-rain smells, watching my sweetie's happy eyes when she got to stop at Gray's Papaya for a bite and taking a snap of the place we had our first date.



We giggled as we remembered sitting close, watching 'All the Pretty Horses,' trying not to accidentally touch hands. We stood across the street from the theater laughing about the electric charge that crackled between us even on that first movie date.

... and crackles still eight years on.

Robin, Tempe