I love autumn in New York; it always seems like a time to reset. Time to look forward and backward. As I celebrate almost 30 years in the West Village, I decided to look back on my 22 years in the East Village. I lived there from 1975 to 1997, a pivotal time period. With
I Remember the East Village Read More »
After a relaxing vacation at the Jersey Shore. I returned to Westbeth where the construction noise never stops, (except on holidays and weekends). Back in my home, I heard the drilling from the masonry repairs outside and new sounds from the endless renovation of the apartment next door. Thankfully, it’s not as loud as the
Down by the Riverside at Pier 57 Read More »
After a relaxing vacation at the Jersey Shore, I returned to Westbeth where the construction noise never stops, (except on holidays and weekends). Back in my home, I heard the drilling from the masonry repairs outside and new sounds from the endless renovation of the apartment next door. Thankfully, it’s not as loud as the
Down by the Riverside at Pier 57 Read More »
Would two inches really make a difference? No, I wasn’t taking a sex quiz. I was buying a new beach chair. After my first trip to the Jersey Shore this June, I had to admit I could no longer get up from my sand chair without a struggle. Another sign of getting older. My neighbor
A Beach Chair Dilemma Read More »
I can’t get anything done. I can’t write. I can’t take a Zoom meeting. I can’t even make a phone call. I can’t stretch out on the couch and take a nap. I can’t step out of my bathroom naked. I can’t relax. All I can do is escape from my apartment while they drill
Struggling to Live in a Construction Site Read More »
I love being a sidewalk gardener on Bethune Street. When I moved into Westbeth Artists Housing, I spotted the nine planter boxes lining the block from Washington to West Streets, each tended by a different gardener. This looked like fun, so I put my name on a waiting list. (Everything at Westbeth involves a waiting
The Joy of Urban Gardening Read More »
Last December I was sitting in an intimate space with great acoustics, listening to the John Eckert Quartet. The veteran trumpet player led a swinging group with a guest singer, Pete Caldera, who channeled Frank Sinatra. No, I wasn’t at Mezzrow. I was at the Westbeth community room attending a show in the First Fridays
First Fridays at Westbeth Read More »
A few days after the January snowstorm, I started to get cabin fever. I couldn’t believe I was actually looking forward to having lunch at the senior center in my building. That’s how limited my life had become. It had been five years since we had a foot of snow in New York City, then
Coping with snow and ICE Read More »
“It was so romantic,” my best friend Jennifer said, “the way he’d walk you home after he made you dinner.” Yes, and after I put my key in the door of my beach bungalow, Ian would sweetly hug me and say, “I love you.” I’d tell him the same. I was so happy when
story and photos by Kate Walter As a new year begins and I celebrate another birthday this month, I’m grateful to be alive and well. I have kept a gratitude journal for many years. A former writing student, a yoga teacher, got me into this routine. She was a follower of Yogi Bhajan who said,
Grateful for a New Year: On Keeping a Gratitude Journal Read More »
