It’s 10 o’clock, Do You Know Where Your Unaccompanied Minors Are?

When I was six years old, my dad moved from New Hampshire to California, and starting almost immediately after the move, I began making that trip across the country on my own a few times a year. I don’t remember being particularly scared the first or any subsequent times, and it never seemed like a big deal to me, but I guess times have changed, and I wonder if the once common sight of unaccompanied minors on planes has become a severe rarity.

Back in the day, the ordeal was pretty easy. My mom was allowed to go through security and wait with me at my gate without question, and my dad was allowed to meet me right as I got off the plane as well. My flights were non-stop BOS to LAX, so with the watchful eye of a flight attendant (who often moved me up to first class) and all of my information in a dorky, clear plastic folder around my neck, there wasn’t much room for me getting lost. I did a little research to what happens now, and apparently an airline representative takes the child all the way through security and to the gate. If that had been the case when I was a tiny, shy little girl – I would have been absolutely terrified.

I understand the need for tighter security now, but thinking about how the world has gotten scarier, more intrusive, and probably more inefficient, along with my observance on my frequent trips this fall that any kids seemed to be paired with parents, I wonder how many unaccompanied minors there really are these days. And you know, it’s too bad, I think. When I was little and flew alone on all of those trips, it was at a time when I actually enjoyed flying. I had my Walkman, my books, my tapes or CDs, airlines still fed you, flight attendants would even come by with cookies fresh out of the oven for me, I was small enough that the seats were actually pretty comfortable (not that I’m huge now or anything), and I often got sticker or pinned wings with the airline’s name on it. I swear, I must have had a whole box of those at one point, but did they disappear with the unaccompanied minors as well? Like the query of how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know.

Writing to Learn

I finally figured it out – why I love journalism. It isn’t about the “exclusive” access to information, it isn’t about the misconceived glamour or fame, it isn’t about the printed by line, and it isn’t even about the writing (though another reason why I love it) – for me, it’s about experiencing a job where you are constantly learning.

Sure, working for a magazine like New York Family means that my assigned topics tend to be fairly similar, but thinking particularly about working there and how much I have learned already, it has made me realize the infinite about of information out there on any subject, and how I want to absorb all of it – NOW! For people like me who are young and have no interest in having children any time soon, it is easy to gloss over the topic of “parenting” as being this repetitive, boring subject (and don’t get me wrong, sometimes it does feel like the same information is being shared over and over again), but on the other hand, the short list of topics I have written about have included pediatric dentistry, a profile on a pediatric oncologist in Brooklyn, a dance and theater school, birthday party etiquette, a Department of Education-certified learning center for nannies, a profile on a woman who caters, owns an organic farm, and runs a cooking school for kids, designing a nursery, and green alternatives to cleaning – just to name a few! And I think, sure, mothers share advice with each other, and you pay attention to how your own parents took care of you growing up, but not even having a child, and realizing how much there is to know, freaks me out a little!

Anyway, I think it is wonderful that I love what I’m doing right now without even getting paid for it, and that it has also made me realize that being a reporter is much more than a job to me, it has become a new way of looking at things again. In other news, I also really want to break into the children’s publishing industry, like, really badly. And also want to write a children’s book (or two or three…). So here’s this for a plan: editor at a publishing company in children’s literature, writer of children’s literature, and freelance journalist? I think I wouldn’t even feel the need to retire if that dream came true…

After Much Delay, New Mexico Part 3: Carlsbad Caverns

Welcome to the bat cave. I didn’t know what to expect from my visit to Carlsbad, but it certainly exceeded all expectations I had for cave exploration. First of all, just think of how awesome it would be to take an elevator down 750ft and then step out into a dimly lit cave with a mesmerizing variety of formations growing from the ceiling, the “walls,” and the floor. We took the Kings Palace tour first, which brings you down to 830ft, and it was crazy to imagine the first people exploring the cave with naught but lanterns, and certainly without the nicely paved walkway and handrails like they have today. After our tour, we went back to enter the cave from the natural entrance, which is still a much easier, gradual descent compared to the first people jumping into the cave with no idea what was below, but still an interesting perspective walking from the light into the dark, cold, damp air in the cave.

 

 

New Mexico Part 2: White Sands National Monument

Before I begin describing our visit to White Sands National Monument, it is important to note that out of the 791 miles we drove that weekend, over 400 of them were on Saturday. So, after visiting the Trinity Site and eating our mature, adult meal of Lunchables (even traded desserts) and Fruit Roll Ups (though sadly they were not the kind with the shapes in them), we set off a few more hours down the road to our next destination.

No, White Sands is not a monument like a statue, it’s an awesome, 275 square mile gypsum dune field. I found it almost unsettling at first to stare off into miles of dunes almost snow white, with no beach in sight, but once my eyes adjusted, I was blown away by its beauty. Unfortunately it was pretty rainy when we arrived, so we didn’t take the 4 mile trail that gives visitors a glimpse of the alkali flat, but fortunately it wasn’t rainy enough to deter us from frolicking among the dunes by the access road, or to take the 1 mile trail nature trail that had all sorts of informative checkpoints narrated by “Katy the Kit Fox.” I found it particularly interesting to see the trees and plants that have adapted to the dune environment, which move about 30 feet every year, as a tree’s height could be misleading with only a foot or two above the dune while the rest of its trunk was hidden under the dune itself. I learned that the yucca plants, which have adapted well to the desert environment all over New Mexico, win the battle against the smothering dunes by being able to break off and regrows a new stem for itself if it loses support, but eventually collapses once the dune has moved completely ahead of the plant. I was so touched by the yucca-dune relationship in fact, that I plan to write a story about it.

We ended the day with some delicious comida mexicana – as depicted by this lengthy carne adovada burrito at Tia Lupe’s in Alamogordo, NM. And off we drove 3 hours to Carlsbad for the night…

More NM Pictures

New Mexico Part 1: The Trinity Site

Last weekend my boyfriend and I went on a whirlwind trip of southern New Mexico. After a long flight from Newark to El Paso, we drove two hours to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico – a town once named Hot Springs, and changed its name after the radio show in response to a contest that the show would be broadcast from the first town to change its name. On our way, we passed probably half a dozen Sonic (wish I had actually kept count), and ate at one because after years of seeing Sonic commercials on TV, despite their absence in the Northeast, I figured I needed to see what all the fuss was about. The slushies were great, burger…ok. I had been told that it was as good as IN-N-OUT, and well, that was a lie.

Anyway, we got up early the next morning to get on the road to the Trinity Site, where the world’s first atom bomb was developed and exploded. The site is in the middle of the White Sands Missile Range, which takes up a huge portion of the entire state of New Mexico, so it is only open twice a year or so. As we approached the site, it was apparent that it really was in the middle of nowhere, though when the blast went off, people felt the shock and windows shattered from a little over 100 miles away. I’ve read up on a few accounts of the Manhattan Project, my favorite of which from Richard Feynman, so it was very interesting to travel back in time and imagine setting this thing off without knowing for sure what would happen. I was happy to discover that the radiation at the site is minimal compared to what we are exposed to in our daily lives, but to see a small pile of rocks where a large tower had been vaporized and rocks that had turned green from plutonium residue was a bit humbling…as was the gorgeous mountain and desert landscape all around us.

More NM Pictures

Apples to (Big) Apples

Last Saturday I went apple picking at Wilkins Farm in Yorktown Heights, about an hour outside of the city. Having never been to an apple orchard outside of NH, I was a bit skeptical, but once my friend and I got there, it really was just like an orchard you would find in New England. The trees weren’t labeled very well, so we sort of had to taste test to figure out which apples were where (aside from Macs, which are as recognizable as they are delicious).

We filled two bags full of crisp Gala, Baldwin, Cortland, and McIntosh fruits, and then picked up some fresh apple cider and warm apple cider donuts for the road. It was…adorable, and everything I had hoped an apple picking adventure would be in New York. Now, the orchard my family goes to in NH has an incredible view of the White Mountains, which this orchard did not, but the atmosphere of autumn joy was still the same. As always, I loved watching and overhearing the kids frolicking about the orchard, and thought back on all of the years I went apple picking before I could reach a proper tree branch.

Back in the Big Apple, Snow Patrol rocked my world last Wednesday at the beautiful Beacon Theater in the UWS, and Phoenix put on a lively show in Central Park after my apple picking outing on Saturday. Having such a stark contrast of an afternoon spent in the country and back to an evening in the middle of Manhattan was interesting. I love both parts of my life, and why shouldn’t I be able to have the best of both worlds?

Dear MTA, Why So Inefficient?

Last night I was reminded of why I often get frustrated with the New York subways system, particularly after midnight. When my ride home should have been two easy express train rides, it turned out that the trains at the first station I waited in weren’t going uptown, yet there was no signage to tell me that, and I had to take a train downtown two stops before switching to an uptown, local train to Queens. Lame. And on top of that, if I hadn’t caught a glimpse of a sign saying that the 7 wouldn’t be running between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza, I would have normally gotten off at Bryant Park only to find no train and that I would have to wait another god-knows-how-long for another uptown train.

So my point is, that considering how common it is for people to transfer to more than one train, couldn’t they at least put up signs with EVERY change in train service, rather than just the one or two lines at a station? It sounds like more work, but it would actually be more efficient to only print one sign with every change on it. I tend to think of these things when I spend too much time waiting for a train, so, can’t you make my life a little easier MTA?

Anyway, the reason I was out late last night was to see a free stand-up show featuring Aziz Ansari at the UCB Theater. You should go watch all of his videos immediately, and follow him on Twitter because he’s hilarious. For real. And Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Smiling’s My Favorite!

Last week, I completed an article about pediatric dentistry, and since then have been much more aware of the smiling going on around the city. While certainly not a known character trait of most adult New Yorkers, it is still contagious among the children of the city, as well as people I have seen working with children.

I have always enjoyed sharing secret smiles with kids on the subway or watching them play with bubbles or balloons in the park, but this week I had a chance to observe and interact with them more directly than I do in a typical day. Yesterday, I visited the Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) in Park Slope for a profile I am writing on the non-profit dance and theater-based organization. Right from the beginning of my interview with some of the staff, I watched their eyes light up as they shared their passion and enthusiasm for working with these kids and watching them grow artistically and, inevitably, up. I was able to sit in on a few classes, and watched how the teachers were as excited to be there as the kids, and had no less energy. And then watching the children themselves, it was fascinating to see how they reacted physically and with constant verbal exclamations throughout class. I must admit that their inviting smiles, unfazed by the fact that a reporter was sitting in their studio, recording them and taking notes, made me eager to join them.

Tonight, I volunteered with a New York Cares “Bedtime Stories” program at a family shelter in the Bronx. I read first with a 12-year-old girl who stood smiling and waving at me as soon as I walked into their recreation room. She was clearly reading at a lower level than most kids her age, but what struck me was how eager she was to keep reading, one book after the other, and how receptive she was to my explanations of words she didn’t know. She didn’t shy away when I asked if she wanted to try reading a longer book, and was never embarrassed when she stumbled on a word, just corrected herself and kept on smiling. It was beautiful. Then after she had to go home early, I worked with a shy, 6-year-old boy who at first kept his eyes on the floor or on a little game he was holding rather than at me. After some coaxing, I was able to help him read a little, and then moved on to an art project where we created license plates for each other with markers and paper. Again, it took some time to get him to participate, but once we started drawing, I saw him become more animated. I asked him what his favorite food and his favorite animal was, and he told me hamburgers and lions, so I started drawing some of his favorite things on his page and he colored them in or added more detail. By the end, he was still drawing frantically all over the page well after we cleaned up and the kids were supposed to line up to receive a snack before returning home. I just loved seeing the transformation of such a shy kid opening up to me, even asking when he would see me again, and it really inspired me to continue doing work like this to enrich my life as much as theirs. While I have no interest in taking care of a child on my own, I think having children involved in your life in some degree can give you optimism when you thought you had lost it, and warmth in a fleeting smile that can brighten even the darkest of days.

In Digestion of a New Year

Similar to Jewish observations of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur around this time of year, I have always felt that September was both a time to digest everything that happened in the past year and the real start of a new one – much more so than January 1st with its cliche resolutions and false promises.

I am certainly not alone in clinging to the idea of a fresh start in September, when, for sixteen plus years in a row it meant the beginning of the school year. Even in my third September out of school, however, it also marked the beginning of my last two jobs and this year’s internship. As the weather cools down, I find myself longing to go back to school shopping and nostalgic for year’s past, but also optimistic as September has yet to fail me on bringing something new (and generally positive) to my life.

Additionally, I just finished the journal I have kept since my semester in London, and after milling through four different bookstores in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I found my “Chapter 3″ journal (Chapter 1: Freshman year until London, Chapter 2: London until now) at The Strand in Union Square. I have done an epic amount of self reflection and soul searching over the past few months, so I take it as a good sign that a new journal has come to me as if knowing exactly when I would need to start anew with a literal blank page.

Happy New Year, everyone.

A First Tasting of San Francisco

At 6:23am on Thursday morning, I stepped out of my apartment and into a cab that whisked me to La Guardia airport with time to spare for my flight to St. Louis and on to San Francisco for the weekend. I had a folder full of printed directions and maps that looked faded because my printer is running low on color ink. I had planned to spend Thursday and Friday running around San Francisco by myself while my brother (who I was visiting) was at work, but much to my surprise and delight, I ran into my best friend’s parents who were on my flight from St. Louis to San Francisco, also planning to spend the weekend in the city before their whole family goes camping in Yosemite for the next week.  So, instead of lugging my backpack and suitcase around during my first afternoon in the city, I was able to leave my stuff in their hotel room, and spent both days palling around with them, instead of going it alone – for which I was very grateful. Had it been any other friend’s parents, I would not have tried to connect with them after the flight, but these parents are like family to me, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Not to bore anyone with a serial list of places I visited on my short visit, I will say that my sightings were an introduction to San Francisco, and that I would very much like to return. I don’t think I spent enough time to make any general or bold statements about the city, but I did find it to be an interesting place – though not as drastically different to any other city as I thought. I guess the one thing I would recommend to someone visiting the city for the first or subsequent time, that trekking to the beach front at the bottom of Golden Gate Park is a lovely experience. We ate there at The Beach Chalet, a microbrewery with a palate-drenching menu, for lunch on Friday, and I hate with my uncle at The Park Chalet (which is directly behind Beach Chalet) for dinner on Saturday. If you can get a table at The Beach Chalet, I preferred both the menu and the romantic ocean view, but Park Chalet was tasty as well, though portions seemed to be smaller. At both restaurants and anywhere else I went in the city, the bread and seafood were both fantastic.

All in all, it was a nice trip, and ended well with a day spent touring the beautiful wine country. The rolling hills and mountains beyond were certainly not underrated, and the wine kept my mouth quite happy at the four wineries we visited. Good food, good weather, being merry with good friends and family – what more could you ask for in a trip anyway?

I am now in Orange County for the next week, and enjoying the southern extension of my California vacation with my family. I am on the less exploratory leg of my trip now, because I have frequented Irvine once or twice a year since I was six years old, but it will no less pleasant I am sure. Part of me really does belong to the west coast, though I have to admit missing New York City more than I used to except for the exponentially superior weather out here. It feels good to wear jeans and hoodies again, let me tell you.