2006
and if you break my heart
maura @ 10:11 pm
After nearly two months, I think I have finally made some sort of Uneasy Truce with the commute to Gus’ new school. Or maybe it’s Resigned Acceptance. Either way I am spending far fewer braincycles stressing out about it, which can only be a good thing.
The craw-sticking fact of the matter is that it’s only about 2 miles from our house. But because of the way the subway is set up (mostly to go from the boroughs into Manhattan) *plus* the Gowanus Canal, which only has a few bridges over it, it’s really been a puzzle to figure out the best way to get from here to there and back again.
There is a city bus that gets us pretty close. But on that route the buses only run every half hour or so and if you miss it you’re sunk. There’s also a really complicated way to take the subway which involves switching trains in the most labor-intensive way: getting off the train, going up to the street and walking 2 blocks to a different train station. That’s about 200 stairs just to get him home in the afternoons.
Just this week we’ve reluctantly concluded that the best way to get him home in the afternoons is to drive. I have a complicated relationship with the car (which will have to wait for another day to discuss, because there are cookies to be eaten and Lost to be watched!) so this sort of feels like failure to me. On the other hand, when we drive I don’t have to endure the “I’m too tired to walk” whining, nor the begging for a cookie from the bakery, granola bars from the newsstand, or a hot dog from the cart.
Also this week, I’ve realized that the bus in the mornings is really kinda nice. It’s usually lovely and quiet on the way home (and sometimes on the way there, too). The route goes through some beautiful and interesting neighborhoods, and is slightly different each way (because the bridges over the canal are only one-way). And, even though it takes about 100 minutes total, it’s really not an unpleasant way to start the day.
Here’s a small sampling of what I saw on my bus ride this morning:
– 2 (maybe 3?) pieces of art by Swoon, 1 (2?) ripped, 1 not
– lots of trees in various fall colors
– a beautiful Carnegie-era branch library
– the South Brooklyn Casket Co.
– innumerable gorgeous brick townhouses and brownstones
– innumerable new condos being built, many ugly
– two giant inflated pumpkin/ghost Halloween decorations
– a small sailboat named Fat Cat
– fresh red graffiti that reads “i love you callie”
– a curious small awning with an art-deco-ish logo for Milso Industries
– a beautiful wild-and-hippy-looking community garden
– one of our favorite date night restaurants
– a store in the poshest part of the bus route called Classy Nails (would its opposite be Tacky Ho Nails?)
– the highest elevated section of subway track in the entire city
