Blue skies

Saturday the sky was cloudless, save for the skywriting which promised better loans. Five plans flew an arc above the city spelling out their dot matrix message. I walked northwest, towards Greenwich Village, up Seventh and then across Greenwich Avenue. I had a date with Lin at Tea & Sympathy.

She was waiting outside when I arrived. She had stopped into the store next door. She said that the waitress knew we were here and that it would be a few minutes. I was surprised how much she was showing. I had seen her a month before, and she told me that people usually pop between the fourth and fifth months. We were soon seated.

I debated the chicken pot pie; Lin said she was having the tea for one. I hesitated and decided to go for the tea as well, hoping it would be more healthy. The waitress appeared and we ordered tea for two. I ordered the white tea with rose petals.

We worked our way up the three-tiered platter, starting with the sandwiches (cucumber, chicken, tuna, all with the crusts cut off), then scones with strawberry jam and fresh cream, then three cakes. I told Lin that this lunch wasn't much healthier and she laughed. The cakes were delicious, but I found myself unable to finish the banana bread with its thin layer of chocolate, having had two scones.

By three, the place was half full, and we decided that in the future we'd come later in the afternoon, and that we'd come more often (I hadn't been in years). I walked Lin to the subway and we both boarded the 1/9. At 42nd street, we parted ways; I transferred to the N to Astoria.

The afternoon was cool in the shade; the sun was hot. I arrived at the Astoria Pool just before 4.30. There was no line and the pool was empty. I quickly changed.

The water was relatively calm and clear as I began swimming laps. People kept mostly to themselves, and the lifeguards perched lazily on their stations. Shadows began to reach across the water as I swam. The blue skies and the water began to merge; water dulled the noise around me. I concentrated on my breathing and my strokes. And thought about how soon the pool would be shuttered and drained, and how the air would become more and more crisp, and how leaves would begin to fill the area left by the water. Posted by eku at August 14, 2006 10:09 AM