Yesterday I walked from Carroll Gardens to midtown Manhattan. It took about 2 1/2 hours. I'm going to do it once more today and then spend the night with a friend in Queens where the F train is in service. You can imagine I saw quite a bit on my sojourn. Walking through a powerless (and relatively empty) lower Manhattan was certainly a sight. But nothing compared to this--this thing that I'm quite certain had nothing to do with the hurricane or its effect. Outside of University Hospital many of the patients lined the sidewalk, candy on their laps, and children paraded past, gathering goodies from each. What a gift. God, what a gift--for the children, for the patients, for the parents, for me watching from the other side of the street. What lessons learned there in that parade of small children.
It was the loveliest thing I've seen in a good long while. It'll be an image I carry forward for years. A Halloween with more meaning. More. More life. More generosity. The kind of more one is always searching for--right there on Henry Street.