Chicago to New York
Trip Start
Feb 16, 2006
1
17
Trip End
Feb 28, 2006
Loading Map
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
Chicago,
Illinois,
United States
Thursday, February 16, 2006
February 16, 2006
Chicago
I am on my way out the door to commence yet another adventure with Toto Tours. Each departure gets more difficult as my body ages and I become more and more comfortable nesting in my beautiful home with my beautiful family.
There is D'Artagnon, our third cat, who we adopted April 19, 2005 - the day Jonathan and I obtained our Domestic Partnership License from the city of Chicago (and also the day the pope was elected). He is the sweetest and most affectionate of all our felines, and now we find that he may have some serious health issues: hyperthyroidism and liver disease
01 Out the Door
. Ouch!Our second cat, Tigger, is my special friend, having bonded to me since his infancy. He is my faithful alarm clock, persistently pestering me every morning beginning at 5:30am. "Time to get up and feed me, dad!" The loudest of all our "three meowsketeers."
Faranelli, the first cat we adopted eight years ago, about the time of the Academy Awards, was named after the famous castrato. He's our little opera singer, roaming the house singing melodically to the rafters.
Animating, entertaining, cooking, assisting with the business, and caring for the entire family is my life partner, Jonathan. He's most definitely my knight in shining armor. He makes our home a paradise, employing tips gleaned from hours of HGTV. He totally pampers me, and his Valentine's Day creation will be with me for some time to come (slurp, burp, oh the jeans are tighter than they were a few days ago)! J
Sitting at O'Hare airport waiting to take off, I am full of gratitude for the amazing life I have been given, with all its heartaches and its joys
02 D'Artagnon and Tigger Keep Warm
. Money may be tight, debts may be ponderous, but I have an abundance of love and family and friends. What more could I want?The flight to New York sees me upgraded to First Class. It is relatively short, at 1.5 hours, yet they still pamper with warmed nuts and a delicious shrimp and bacon chef salad. The voices of "Libera", an English Boy's Choir, accompany my reading in my Morocco guidebook-stories of conquest and conversion of the Moors by Christians and then Moslems. Better not be a Berber if you are living in the olden days! I'll see if their lot has improved in recent centuries.
New York is sunny and warm. It is almost 60 degrees, and all the snow they received last weekend is rapidly disappearing. I am instructed by Anton, my son, to hop in a cab at LaGuardia airport and tell the driver to take me to the corner of 47th and 8th. He swears every driver will immediately know the way, as he lives in the heart of Times Square. Sure enough, I mention the magic address and am soon walking into my son's first apartment since he moved out of student housing at Columbia University. I look forward to seeing him for a quiet evening of conversation after our aborted attempt to ski together a couple of weeks ago.
Hugs,
Dan
