I went to bed last night, thinking I’d walk into midtown, trying to find those ten thousand steps but it is raining. It’s raining this morning and I have work to do, papers to write (Macbeth and Chaucer), so no walk for me, not that kind of walk.

New Yorkers have been shedding their fear as more of us become vaccinated and more of us grown weary of the fear and paranoia that had settled into our bones. Outside my window, I hear the steady hum of cars roaring north and south on the FDR drive and the pigeons that sit atop the rooftop outside my windows are chattering at each other. Every so often I will hear the steady rum of a skateboard. The smallest things are the greatest emblems of hope.

I took this photo in January 9 2021 as I went on a walkabout. Times Square in her pandemic mode. It had more people milling about than my last visit in the Fall but not as it had a year ago this time before hand sanitizer and masks and data became everyday nomenclature.

Still. The birds are chattering and the rain is falling and As I prepare to walk Rocky, I’m excited for what the day will bring, the tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow of it all.