July 2020: A Little More Exciting than June

July 4: Well the month certainly started off with a bang…I mean people had been setting off fireworks all night for weeks, but on the 4th they really went for it.

July 8: A big thing about July was the baby pigeons on my fire escape. They were getting bigger and bigger right before my eyes. I borrowed a telephoto lens from Ned to try to get a better look at them.

July 14

See? They look closer, right?

Momentous Occasion: I take my first subway ride in 4 months. I go downtown to make some big returns and check on the old China Town/Little Italy/Soho/Nolita/West Village situation. Really didn’t seem super different. I think I missed the part where New York looked empty and abandoned.

Mr. Aime Leon Dore

Prince Street Pizza without a line

Back then I thought it was a big deal I hadn’t shaved for four months or had a haircut for five months but now I write this in August with a month more growth on both and think it’s all so quaint.

July 21

Bigger and bigger.

I went up Inwood Hill with Ned to see that comet. We saw it.

July 23: Another trip downtown to do a bunch of errands that didn’t really work out BUT I got out of the house and had my first Sweetgreens since the Saturday when I saw Little Women with Heather a real long time ago.

July 25: My preferred neighborhood Chinese take-out place has reopened.

June 2020: There Is Not Much To Show

Well, it certainly seems I did not do much in June. And I thought April was my most locked-down month!

JUNE 6: While the protests were occurring, there was some major scorched-earth looting along Fordham Road in the Bronx, just over the river from Inwood. Rumors ran rampant that Dyckman street was the looters’ next target, so I when I went out this night to pay my rent I found many businesses well boarded up and something of local anti-looting militia patrolling the neighborhood before staking out on Dyckman for the night. As far as I know the looters never came, BUT I very strongly believe I heard gunfire that night (and not just the usual late-night independent fireworks show).

JUNE 8: Surprise “visit” to Festus’s with Garrett, too.

JUNE 13: I could hear a band playing so I went out to find out what was going on. Turns out it was a concert at the fruit stand! The fruit stand man gave me a banana which (mistakenly) I tried to eat with my mask on. Also discovered the church on the corner is open now. And found some saddles for sale.

Really these posts would be longer if I was including the food I’ve been cooking or the books I’ve been reading, but I’ve kept that content Instagram-exclusive.

May 2020 : Looks like I went to the Bronx a lot

Okay, May 2020, let’s look at more lockdown stuff…

May 4: For a while there was this good deal on burritos at Taco Bell, so I’d get a bag of them once a week. And then the deal ended and I haven’t been back. Taco Bell without a deal? No deal!

May 7: I began posting a drawing every night, starting with a favorite character from Flannery O’Connor’s Wiseblood.

May 12: Taking pictures inside of my apartment and then that night we had family bookclub to discuss the Wind in the Willows. If you haven’t read the Wind in the Willows, you really should!

May 16: Took a three mile walk into the Bronx for an antibody test, this was the farthest I had gone from my apartment since March (and haven’t been that far since) and also when they drew my blood that was the first human physical contact I had had since March (and up to this point, again). It was fun to explore a part of the city I had absolutely never ever ever been to before. And my legs got real worn out, in spite of my aggressive daily bike rides. Oh and looking at these pictures I realize I barely took any pictures. I guess I was too in awe of everything I saw.

May 17: Now this was wild — a Zoom mission reunion. Good to check up with the Cazier’s every 20’ish years. Nearly didn’t recognize a single other person on the call besides former companion Elder Torres and former housemate Elder Zuñiga.

May 22: Another hike into the Bronx, this time I was hunting down some Chinese cooking ingredients. Turns out the little grocery store I went to was more of a Vietnamese grocer, but I still found a few good things. AND I bought a nice torta Cubana on the way back.

May 25: ANOTHER hike into the Bronx, this time I wanted to get a bite at Smashburger. But by the time I didn’t feel like a burger anymore. So I came back home.

May 31: Made Cincinnati-style chili!