silver skies

Yesterday morning I came out of Penn Station at 8:30 and immediately felt assaulted by the noise of midtown Manhattan—construction on every corner, roads choked with traffic, people racing by with sullen faces. My first thought was, “I don’t miss NYC at all!” Of course, I always made a point of saying I lived in Brooklyn. I avoided Manhattan as much as possible, and preferred the peaceful residential neighborhoods in my own borough. But then my Lyft arrived and being inside the car shut out some of the noise; by the time I reached our meeting place on 11th Ave., I was feeling calmer. Then I got upstairs, discovered my flash drive was NOT in my bag, and scrambled to get my presentation together. But the librarians attending the Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking PD were ready to learn and ready to share—within minutes I forgot about not having had a bite to eat and we spent the next three hours writing! I brought copies of my new writing guide for everyone, and so far I’ve gotten some encouraging feedback. I’m so grateful that Melissa Jacobs of the NYC Department of Education/NYC School Library System invited me to facilitate after seeing me present at the DOE Sexuality, Women, and Gender conference last spring. Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, gave everyone materials to take home—and I’m hoping I can find someone in Philadelphia who might want to get kids involved in the contest. After my workshop ended, I signed copies of BENNY DOESN’T LIKE TO BE HUGGED and MILO’S MUSEUM for the participants, gobbled down half a sandwich, and then walked back to Penn Station. The city was SO intense…I was relieved when I finally reached the Amtrak waiting lounge and dozed in the quiet car on the way back to Philly. Then I opened my eyes, looked out the window and for once, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. The train was crossing the Schuylkill, I could see rowers on the river, and the silver, mirrored skyscrapers were gleaming. And I was SO happy to be home again! I’m moving again this weekend (across the hall this time) and I’m trying to finish my first Philly novel by tomorrow. I have a few more NYC gigs this fall and I love that it only takes 90 minutes to move from one city to another. But I’m also glad that I left Brooklyn when I was ready because that means I can come and go without any emotional baggage. I believe Melissa took these photos during yesterday’s workshop, and I love that in this one you can see the Hudson River out the window. Rivers make me think of bridges and bridges are what keep us connected…