J takes a great course on at MOMA. The teacher is a curator for the museum and according to her the font of all knowledge. She loves it!
We drive in together on the day of the course and I pick her up afterwards abut 9:30.
Recently I arrived before the end of the class and sat in my car across from the entrance on 54th street. The street has lovely town homes on it and at the end is the venerable University Club, for those who didn't have the grades to get into Harvard or the Club.
As I looked to my left I saw what appeared to be black garbage bags piled in front of a wrought iron and stately picket fence, guarding a mansion. As I looked closer I noticed a pair of eyes staring back at me. It was a homeless women all bundled in bags, her face protected from the very cold night. For all the time I was there, about 40 minutes she just sat, huddled in front of the gate. It was 9:00 at night and an entire night lay ahead. Is this what she does every night and how does she manage in what has become a very cold winter in NYC?
About ten minutes into it a very attractive, well dressed young woman approached the woman and placed a white plastic bag by her side. I don't know if words were exchanged and there was little acknowledgement from the seated woman. The young woman walked away and the bag stayed by her side. About 10 minutes elapsed and the woman picked up the bag and began to look through it. I assume it was food although I never saw the woman eat anything form the bag. I still wondered what would this woman do for the entire night, on the cold pavement in front of a 5-10 million dollar town house. With that she pulled out a paperback book and began to read. She moved the book until she was able to take advantage of the minimal street light, but there she was reading as if she was on the other side of the fence, inside the big house, having just chosen a book form the top shelf of her Library, cuddled by a fire for a cold winters read.
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