TO KNOW ME IS TO LOVE ME

     When I finally stepped out of the apartment  around 2 pm it was startlingly beautiful outside—crystal clear skies and a cool temperature fit for a late November day. I wore my Dior trench coat and a navy wool sweater tied tightly around my neck. No bag, just my wallet, my Autoboy and a small tin of Bag Balm in the pockets of the coat. Swathed in my lapels, I started walking along the paths of the park heading downtown. I had intended for a leisurely stroll to the model boat pond near 75th street but quickly veered off around 89th street.      I didn't expected to run into the Thanksgiving Day parade floats and with them an intensifying crowd, as I continued walking down from 89th to 88th and so on. By 77th I found no reason not to join the flow of people as I was already playing hooky from work and had nothing better to do anyway. I followed the masses down the eastern side of the street and having been cut off by parade workers, funneled back int...

11/01/24      There was this doughnut shop in my home town—best you ever had. You needed to get there early, like 6 am. Otherwise, you’d drive up to a closed shop " Sold Out" sign on the door. It was on one of the main thoroughfares that cut through the city, in a strip mall with no other stores. The interior was very plain; small with nothing on the walls but a simple clock. It looked as if its sole purpose was to open for these few short hours, sell donuts, and close. I’d often ask my parents to wake me in the morning so that I could make the trip with them when I knew they had planned to stop by. We’d drive across town at 5 in the morning and I’d be so sleepy that I’d close my eyes and awake again, nudged by my mother when we arrived. I’d sit in the only seat in the shop and drink a small carton of milk. Sitting and watching as the person behind the counter packed up our selections into a blank white paper box. The rising sun would bathe the whole shop in a warm golden...