Impervious to Wonder

It is a big laundry day. A chore I hate because it involves a trip to the horrid laundromat.

Due to a recent hemorrhaging problem, I had four loads to do. It required two trips to carry all of the bags to the laundromat. It was exhausting.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait for empty machines. Maybe because the prices rose again.

Once everything was loaded, I ran to the post office to mail a deposit to my bank.

As I passed a group of people conversing on the sidewalk, I noticed a butterfly perched on the thigh of one of the talkers. Butterflies are fairly rare in NYC. In 13 years in the city, I haven't seen one land on a person outside of the Museum of Natural History.

She looked down at it as it slowly stretched its wings and resumed talking. Her companions were oblivious to the natural phenomenon resting on their friend. The talker appeared indifferent to to this delicate, colorful creature.

Perhaps she isn't a New Yorker. Maybe she hails from the oyamel forests of Mexico and encounters this kind of thing every day.

The Gift of Compliments and Confusion

He pointed to his head and mouthed "Your hat is fabulous!"

I put up my hand for a high five, but he held it.

"My friend just gave it to me!"

"It's fabulous!"

"Thanks!"

His eyes swept up my body.

"Are you married?"

He's not gay? When did straight men start saying "fabulous" and complimenting women's hats?

"You're too much!" I say and walk away.

That one was surely a player.

Witness Mystery

Today I noticed several stacks of "The Watchtower" magazines on the curb of 21st Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. They were prepared for recycling .

There were enough of these magazines to fill about 9-12 feet of shelves.

"The Watchtower" is a Jehovah's Witness publication that is often distributed by door-to-door preachers.

At first I thought the stacks would contain left-over magazines that were not distributed. But each issue was different.

This is a residential block of expensive brownstones in a predominantly gay neighborhood. It seemed unlikely that an evangelical who frowns upon tobacco, gambling, non-marital sex, contact with other religions, and blood transfusions would live here.

Yet, it appears that someone was either a Jehovah's Witness or had collected all of the magazines given to them by door-to-door preachers over the years.