Lauriate …  Your words hit at just the right time.  My beliefs, which work so well with me, are that none of us should let a day pass without moving forward in our lives in every sort of way, but it is up to us to get up and out of our homes - open that door to the world.  And for me, that world encompasses as far as my hands can stretch in the sky.  I don’t want to miss a bit of it, but after going the gamut in travel for an entire lifetime, I find that only in the world of nature do you enrich what is so important - your spiritual life within, that piece of you that keeps you going in the not so good times. 

And yes, if it means taking that one (or more) extra steps to go to places many would find "scary" or one step beyond, so be it.  It is much lovelier when you and your small group are the only ones who have made it there.  Next to writing, I love to be before an audience.  Last night was one of those times.  Standing room only, mostly men, and most have not gone so far out their own doors.  I love challenges.  I love to see people think: "show me" — and then have them come to life.  And so for the first time, I actually talked about polar bears as I talked about the island closest to the North Pole - Spitzbergen - and my time and life there, going on to talk about the infamous Bear Island (Alistair MacLean’s book and title) and off Norway - the Lofoten Islands with the sperm whales in the North Atlantic gathering above these islands in large groups for us.  The photos - I have to say - were the most breathtaking they ever could be.  I wish a couple could be published here — as people think they have seen sheer beauty and they have not.  But as this area is far beyond the realm of most, I talked stories of my polar bear encounters with photos, and I talked about the sex lives of polar bears, walruses (the men loved it that they had harems of women!!!), and even sperm whales - which is a story unto itself.  I had them on the edge of their seats as it entertained as much as informed — and the beauty surpassed anything.  They waited in line - I felt like a movie star - to speak to me afterwards.  They thought me brave, crazy to do it maybe, and it was beyond their dreams of the next museum or cathedral.  But they marvelled that I was on that trail high up on a remote mountain, or that they saw photos of an arctic tern —the most viscious bird with the sharpest beak - a bird that knows you have gotten near a ground nest you didn’t see at all and is now going to dive-bomb the top of your head and draw lots of blood.  I scream at the time, but that behavior is what we might do if someone invaded our home — so we understand, don’t we?  I do. 

I love to "open" others’ worlds as I seemed to for my large audience — the questions were forever, so that told something I thought.  So to your question:  I never sit on my laurels or anything else.  The world is our oyster … and from then on, it is up to us.  And so much of my happiness and going has been free for the asking — it is just in knowing how to.

So that’s my story for today, Lauriate!

I lived on 79th and York for 3 years. I lived in the poorest section of the richest section of Manhattan right on the East River. Then I did what I always wanted to do. Live all over Manhattan so I could experience it completely. The first sublet was Chelsea (24th and 8th Avenue) which seemed to have a lot of gay men. Then I sublet in the lower east side (Orchard St and Houston) where my boyfriend (he visited from Houston) and I were always the oldest people in the neighborhood. Next sublet was the Upper West Side on 85th and Broadway which I felt was the bookish types, and our age group. Finally, I lived in mid-town (55th and Avenue of the Americas) two blocks from where I worked in Rockefeller Center. I had that job for a total of six years. Loved the job and loved Manhattan. But the job didn’t pay enough to save money ($54K). When I moved back to Houston and made $33K, my $500 rent allowed me to have a lot more money leftover after my bills were paid and I finally had money leftover so I could save. If it weren’t for the money, and the cold weather, I would have stayed. It was the money issue that really bothered me.

Yes, and deliveries in NYC are cheap! We go out to dinner almost every night and it costs him almost $100 each time here in Houston (he refuses to go to fast food places). I got spoiled in NYC getting my laundry done by others. I tried doing my laundry on my own in NYC, and it wasn’t much cheaper especially since the laundromat was much further away than the people doing the laundry.

I like to write. So even living in the lower East side, I didn’t mind living among those youngsters (I was late 40s). It was like revisiting my youth. And it was really funny for my boyfriend, who owned a Jaguar, to stay with me in my 250 sq ft studio. It proved he must love me. We’re still together almost seven years later. But we do visit Manhattan from time to time on our vacations. He loves the fact that I know the city well, know where the bargains are and have favorite restaurants.