Country to city markets

Saturday, and my first full day in Brooklyn.

When I arrived into the city yesterday and caught a cab out to Sharon's apartment in Brooklyn I was greeted by the unexpected, and delightful surprise of fiddle music, home brewed cider, and lively fun catching up with Sharon and her boyfriend Jon. Such a warm and familiar introduction to the big city was like a cool breeze dispersing my doubts arriving here.

In the morning we rode bikes through the brownstone neighborhoods and I gazed up into the leafy boughs of tall sycamore trees shedding leaves in preparation for the fall. At one of the many local farmers markets nearby we stocked up on all the delectables of the summer season, now in colorful display. All the people at the farmers markets picking up fresh food grown just outside the city from farms along the Hudson was a wonderful thing to see. Jon picked up gallons and gallons of apple cider to make into hard cider, while Sharon and I bought sunkissed cherry tomatoes, leafy green kale, plump concord grapes, and a heap of fresh okra for a stew. A loaf of bread, some cheese, and more cider and we were ready for a picnic.

Meeting some of Sharon's friends from NYU film school we found a gorgeous spot in the shade of pear trees in a grassy park just beside the spires of the Brooklyn bridge. We dined on fresh bread and cheese, apples, grapes, and rhubarb cider looking out on the skyline of Manhattan across the river. Being here in the midst of NYC, and yet finding it so comfortable in the intimacy of folks just like me is a good omen, bright and true as sunshine on a perfect September weekend.